Ratalu Poori is a very flavorful yam fritter from the city of Surat, Gujrat.
Yes, We are at the alphabet R today and I am Exploring the Flavors of Surat. Surat is a city in West gujarat which is very popular for its textile market and diamonds . The city is about 6 hours from Ahemdabad but I have visited it only once , perhaps 20 years back ! Back then I did not have any street food, but Surati ‘s are very fond of food and their Undhiyu is popular all over the globe .
For today I have Ratalu Poori .Ratalu is purple yam . Read what wiki has to say about it “ Dioscorea alata, known as purple yam or many other names, is a species of yam, a tuberous root vegetable. “The tubers are usually vivid violet to bright lavender in colour, hence the common name, but they may sometimes be plain white , what I used had just a little bit of lavender , rest was all white . We call it Rataalu or Kand in Gujarat.
When I first read about Ratalu Poori , I thought it must be some puffed flatbread made with yam . I went on YouTube to watch the video , and I was amazed to see this pakora . Now Pakoras are very popular as street foods but what is special about these Ratalu Pooris ? First these yams are sliced horizontally , so you get a real long slice and the fried pakoras or fritters are nice and long , unusual for a pakora . The second specialty is that after dipping them into batter and before they are dunked into hot oil , we need to sprinkle coarsely ground coriander seeds and peppercorns . These stick to the batter and after the fritter is fried to a nice golden , it puffs up like a poori and makes it very airy and light. the coriander seeds and peppercorns taste absolutely amazing . I am sure the name Ratalu Poori must have come as this puffs up like a Poori . These pooris are served with Chutney .
When I made these fritters , it was a job slicing the Ratalu as it is quite sticky and it kept slipping off my hands . Finally I held the Ratalu with a napkin and then sliced it . The pakoras were a real treat and we all loved them . I am not a very big fan of yam but trust me these will amaze you . I am sure if we use some other root , they would taste equally amazing .
Ratalu ki Poori
Ingredients
250 gms purple yam
Oil for deep frying
Batter
1 cup chickpea flour
Salt to taste
1 tbsp hot oil
Pinch cooking soda
For sprinkling spice mix
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp peppercorns
Method
Peel the Rataalu , wash and cut into slices.
Sprinkle salt .
Mix chickpea flour , salt , cooking soda and hot oil .
Gradually add water and make a medium consistency batter .
Heat oil.
Dip the Rataalu slice into the batter , sprinkle spice mix on the top .
Deep fry till golden .
Enjoy with Chutney.
Here are some other pakoras that you may like
Here is what I have been posting under Explore the Flavors
Ratalu ki Poori
Ingredients
- 250 gms purple yam
- oil for deep-frying
Batter
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp hot oil
- Pinch cooking soda
For sprinkling spice mix
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp peppercorns
Instructions
- Peel the Ratalu , wash and cut into slices.
- Sprinkle salt .
- Mix chickpea flour , salt , cooking soda and hot oil .
- Gradually add water and make a medium consistency batter .
- Heat oil.
- Dip the Rataalu slice into the batter , sprinkle spice mix on the top .
- Deep fry till golden .
- Enjoy with Chutney.
Notes
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87
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Yam bhajji looks interesting and looks more like our famous raw banana ones.. Will definitely try this out!!
At first I thought the yam was incorporated in the dough. Making pakoras with yam is surely interesting. They look awesome and am sure they are so delicious..
Very tempting. These remind me about the raw plantain fritters sold on Marina Beach, chennai.
Looks like a bajji, wonder how i would taste with yam !!! It turned out so good , perfect tea time snack!!!
at first I was looking for a round poori-shaped dish, these are lovely fritters however. Amma makes raw banana bajji (pakoras) the same way – sliced thin and long.. Surat is surely a foodies’ paradise from all your posts… that masala and the tea kettle is a perfect set up
I need to second all… The shape and the method resemble more like vaazhakai/raw banana bajji sans the sprinklers… Love that idea of sprinkling spice mix.
Somehow the setup is reminding me an Indian railway station. Maybe because of that aluminium tea kettle, I am not sure but love it.
I was expecting to see a poori too but these are again unique fritters just like those tomato ones you posted. I am bookmarking these too. I am sure that my husband is going to love them. 🙂
Wow, the shape of the ratalu poori is simply fabulous and that spice mix top is seriously very irresistible. Wish i get some poori to munch rite now even its too late to have fried foods.
That is such an interesting pakoda with yam. The name like you said is misleading, I thought I’ll see puffed up regular puri and seeing these extra long pakoda was different. Lovely find for the letter R.
Fantastic pick Vaishali, though I too don’t eat yam, this way it must have tasted yum..the process is different too with the coarse powder on top!..wonder how you managed to slice it so long!..very nice.
Yummy, delicious, delectable, drool worthy, tempting… now running out of adjectives to describe this dish. How did you get the masala to remain stuck on the batter while frying? Awesome share Vaishali.
I seriously need to visit Gujrat just to taste the street foods only. The ratalu poori looks like a nice and crispy snack from Gujarat.
Oh my god !! another delicious and tempting street food di , you have nailed it I must say 🙂 .. This is making me so drool , I am running out of adjectives to appreciate your efforts. I did come across this recipe few months back while doing my R &D , It has been on my to-do list, but your version sounds so so yummy and perfectly made !! The shape is so perfect !!
Wow! You have literally made bajji with vegetables that I would have never thought of. I have to agree with the rest here that it resembles our raw banana bajji. Love it Vaishali!
That looks tempting Vaishali! So
Beautifully done! Love the setup too! Can imagine the bite into the spices atop the puri, yumm!
The stalls here make raw banana bajjiya like like,slicing it horizontally. It looks so similar! . We only get the regular yam here. This is such a delicious snacks Vaishali and love how puffed up it looks!