Fritters/ Pakoras and chai are big part of Indian cuisine, or may be one of the most important ones. There is no one who hasn’t had them or doesn’t crave for them. Specially, when pakora can be made out of anything, and I mean anything, potato, onions, daal/lentil, green chilies, cauliflower, coriander leaves and inspired by all the wonderful types, I experimented the same with chicken.
I wanted to make sure that it doesn’t look or taste anything like fried chicken. These go well with tea and are best when served as an evening snack. If you are a non vegetarian and love pakoras [who doesn’t], this is a must try.
As the name suggests, this recipe is from the era of Mughals and I believe must have been a favorite of Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, made by Noorjahan Begum, thus named after her. Going through history, its amazing to read of how different ingredients were introduced at different times. Like spices or khada Masala, like cinnamon, bay leaves or cardamoms and cloves were never a part of the Indian cuisine and were brought in by the Mughals when they migrated to India. I believe there has been no other clan unlike the Mughals who not only brought in so much with them but also adapted the cultures of India and settled with the people and built families.
Where the spices were brought in by the Mughals, India already had food enhancing flavors like Turmeric, red chilies, coriander etc. Mixed together, the food that came out was super amazing like this kebab or a lot Biryanis that I share on this website.
The super amazing cuisines that we taste at so many restaurants today have been fusion dishes of the old era which apparently weren’t recorded under the term “fusion”. The acceptance of a culture, embracing the traditions, values and flavors and giving the best of what we have does not only result in super new flavors but also becomes a part of our cuisines for the coming generations . For me reading history about a dish is as fascinating as trying to cook a dish.
