Black Eyed Peas Salad on a Crispy Spinach Spoon

I love these beans. They are so tasty and filling. I remember my mom making either rajma, dal makhani or lobia, when we were expecting guests for dinner/lunch. Lobia was made during special occasions, not because it was expensive or difficult to make, but because it was tasty and yet simple. It was a special dal/bean like rajma, unlike the "peeli dal" (other yellow-lentils), that were an everyday affair in our kitchen.

Some of Avi's friends (not Indians) visited our home unexpectedly. I started to panic as they find Indian savory very spicy n hot and there was no time to make Indian sweets. As I was staring at my open fridge, for some idea to click, I had a glance at a pyrex glass container with these lovely beans. They were cooked and ready to be made as methi-lobia (my mom's yummy recipe). I stole some of the beans and made a quick salad and served it on top of palak pakoda. It was delicious, light and crispy. We all relished it!

This is my contribution for the 15th helping of My legume affair event hosted by Sia and Susan.



Ingredients:-

For Salad:-
1 cup of cooked black eyes peas
1/4 cup of chopped red onions
1/8 cup of chopped tomatoes (make it less as tomatoes tend to make the salad soggy)
1/8 cup of chopped bell peppers/capsicum
1 tbl spn of lime juice
1 jalapenos finely chopped
1 tsp of coarsely crushed black pepper
salt to taste

For the Spinach Pakoda:-
10 baby spinach leaves-cleaned and washed
5 tbl spns of besan/gram flour
3 tbl spns of corn starch/rice flour
1 tbl spns of bread crumbs
1 tsp of jeera powder
red chilli power (as desired)
salt to taste

Oil for deep frying
water

Method:-

Mix all the ingredients for the salad. Keep aside.
Mix the besan, rice flour, salt, red chilli powder, bread crumbs and jeera powder to a smooth paste with water. The batter should be of pouring consistency.
Heat oil for deep frying.
Dip the spinach leaves one by one into the batter, in order to coat the leaf. Fry in the oil till the batter is cooked and crispy. Test by frying one and see if you need to make any changes in the taste or the time in frying.
Let them cool down.
Just before serving, place 1 tbl spn of salad on top of the pakodas and serve immediately. Make sure to serve immediately, as the salad makes the pakodas soggy after 10 minutes.