Made some chicken pakora today. I wanted to try Rob's batter as it looks so good.
Made a batch with Rob's and a batch with my usual gram flour batter. No pictures I'm afraid, but pictures don't tell the whole story anyway.
As soon as I popped Rob's into the fryer, they floated up to the surface - pockets of air form (I'm assuming it's because of the self raising flour). After a few minutes (have too hold them down under the oil to get the top side cooked evenly) they came out lovely and crisp.
My usual ones sink for a bit longer before they lighten up and begin to rise to the surface of the oil, but also came out nice and crisp after the same (or slightly longer time).
I had to leave them both while I did some haggis pakora and it was interesting what I found when I returned to them.
Rob's previously crispy batter had went a wee bit mushy in places - kind of like a chippy fish, while the besan batter, although softened, had kept it's texture more. Not having a go because before serving, popped both back into the fryer for a couple of minutes and both were fine.
So the moral of the story is..................feck knows
Enjoyed a couple of hours messing around (emphasis on the 'mess') this afternoon.
If I had to give any advice - and if it was worth taking - I'd say 'use a gram flour batter for meat and a self raising flour one for fish.
That mint/yogurt dip is nice by the way but don't add much salt