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Cheese And Conch Pakora

Actually a long time ago I bought a box of conch. There are several places here in the city of Chicago that would sell it and I bought it for I think 30 bucks US. They may be worth more now and it is an Indopak fusion dish I came up with. A conch is an animal that lives in a huge shell that you can pick up and listen to the ocean out of. Some people even used it as a horn a long time ago and there are stories of people making noise with a conch to start a competition. When I brought the box of conch home I split it up in to tiny zip baggies. There was 2 to each zip baggie so I do not have to worry about thawing out the whole box and worry about spoilage. I chucked them all in the freezer afterwards and took one down as needed. Also 1 day in advance I would make my Paneer (Cheese).

So I took down one frozen bag of conch and placed it in the small bowl a day in advance or if I decide to make it that evening I would take 1zip baggie that would have the conch inside and it would be 2 large pieces and put the rest in the freezer for later when I need it for other recipes. So with the conch meat I took down that I would cut this in to small pieces and fill the bowl up with water and add 1 capful of lemon juice to clean it after I rinsed it in water then set it aside in the refridgerator and I would do this the same day that I would make these yummy treats. Here I would also the same day I would make this conch and paneer pakora I would also make my Pakstani Fish Masala Spice Mix before starting.

In a medium bowl I would now add 1/2 cup of besan and 1/4 cup of rice flour, 1 pinch of baking powder, the contents of my mortar and pestle containing my homemade fish masala, 1 pinch each of paprika, ajwan, red chili powder and turmeric. I would mix and add 2 cloves of garlic and 1 green chili minced, 1 red chili which can be either round or long and they must be the whole type crumbled or 1 Kasmiri chili. I would mix again and add 1/4 cup of water a little at a time until I have a nice thick batter that would coat the paneer and the pieces of conch meat. Now it is time to add both the paneer I would add crumbled and the conch meat pieces and give it a good mix.

Then I would add 1/4 cup of peanut oil or even vegetable oil to a very hot wok or cast iron skillet and let it heat up then take a tablespoonful of this besan mixture with the paneer and conch meat pieces inside and carefully add it to the hot oil. Let them cook until they are brown and crispy then place them on a paper towel lined plate. It would be in batches of 3 at a time until there is no more of this batter left. You can serve this with either am ki chutney imli kajool chutney or even lal chutney. This means in Urdu am for mango imli for tamarind kajool meaning date and lal meaning red. They are here in this blog and perfect to enjoy with kava if you wish.

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