As were are creatures of habit (with a little bit of OCD thrown in) we like to blog on Fridays, so this comes 24 hours after St Andrew’s Day, but I am sure when you see the recipe you will forgive us.

Scottish food often comes in for a bit of stick, mainly because if conjures up an image of a deep fried Mars bar, even though in reality this was only ever a novelty item. Put it this way, I have had lots of takeaway ‘suppers’ (as they referred to north of the border) in Scotland and never once have seen a Mars bar on the menu.

The takeaways are amazing though. Whether it’s haggis, black pudding, white pudding or king rib (yes, these all exist), you probably don’t want to know what goes into making them, but just enjoy them for what they are because they are delicious. In fact they make our takeaways dull by comparison.

It’s when you really begin to explore Scottish food that you see how great it is. It’s certainly not just about haggis and shortbread. An abundance of water, whether that’s from the rivers, lochs or sea, combined with fertile soil, tons of natural resources and a fairly temperate climate all make for great local produce, whether that’s meat (Aberdeen Angus for example), game (the highlands and lowlands are full of it), fish and seafood (Arbroath smokies are amazing), vegetables and fruit.

For our recipe this week though, we are combining something archetypally Scottish, haggis, with something else which is also very popular across the border, but which originated in India, pakora.

Haggis Pakora with Glasgow Pakora Sauce

For the haggis:
500g of haggis, crumbed
10g of cracked black pepper
1.75g salt
Water to moisten

For the pakora batter:
250g of chickpea flour
100g of self-raising flour
3g of turmeric, curry powder, chilli powder, fresh coriander and mint
Soda water to mix till you achieve desired consistency like double cream.

For the Glasgow pakora sauce
250ml natural yoghurt
salt to taste
5g red chilli powder
15g ready-made mint sauce
100g tomato ketchup

Method:
1. Put the haggis, pepper and salt in the mixed, adding water until you get the desired consistency.
2. Roll into 25g balls and dip in the pakora batter. Fry at 180 degrees for 3.5 mins or until golden brown.
3. Drain on kitchen paper
4. For the pakora sauce, pour the yoghurt into a large bowl, add the salt and mix. Add the chilli powder, mint sauce and ketchup and mix everything together thoroughly.

About Sean Flint
Development & Innovation Chef of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.