Pondicherry is a charming former French town on India’s east coast, and that is my model of India’s tackle French toast – as a result, the name, Pondicherry toast. Chickpea flour is blended with yogurt, coriander, chili, and cumin, then pan-fried to create a scrumptious large bread pakora. Many Indians consume this as an after-school or work snack; I adore it for Sunday breakfast, chai, ketchup, and Lata Mangeshkar’s syrupy music inside the heritage.
Pondicherry toast
If you’re reducing your own bread, reduce it as thinly as keep-bought sliced bread because it makes for a higher batter ratio to bread. Beware: a few “simple” soya yogurts have sugar in them, so check the label. I use Sojade’s ‘So Soya!’
- Prep 10 min
- Cook sixteen min
- Makes 4 toasts, to serve 2-four
- 100g chickpea flour (aka gram flour or besan)
- 120g soy yogurt
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 huge handful of coriander leaves, finely shredded
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 green finger chili, very finely chopped
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 thin slices of bread
- Rapeseed oil, for frying
In a bowl, whisk the chickpea flour with the yogurt until there are no lumps, add all the other ingredients besides the bread and oil, and mix thoroughly.
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a nonstick frying pan till warm. Meanwhile, dunk one slice of bread in the batter, making sure to coat each facet (however, don’t deliver it a bath). Carefully lay the bread in the hot pan and prepare dinner for a minute and a half to two minutes, till golden brown on the underside, then turn over with a fish slice and cook for the same time on the alternative side.
Slide or raise the toast directly to a serving plate and hold heat simultaneously as you repeat with the other 3 slices of bread, making sure you get enough of the herbs and spices inside the backside of the batter bowl on every facet. Serve warm with ketchup.
