Varinicey Pakoras brings deep-fried vegan snacks to Vancouver festivals

These very nice pakoras are gluten-free too. (Stephen Hui)

With Veg Fest Vancouver 2013 approaching, I had looked forward to trying Varinicey Pakoras on July 27. Last weekend, I spotted the food cart at the Khatsahlano Music & Arts Festival, however, and decided not to wait.

As its name suggests, Varinicey Pakoras serves up deep-fried Indian fritters, which are indeed very nice. You can order a small ($5.50), regular ($8.50), or large plate ($10).

The Original pakoras consist of onions, ginger, carrots, kale, yams, and Swiss chard in a chickpea-flour batter. Three other kinds of pakoras are available: the Hot Chili (with chili peppers), Extreme Green (with extra kale, cabbage, and green veggies), and Super Beet (with red beets).

Varinicey Pakoras will be at Veg Fest Vancouver 2013. (Stephen Hui)

Did I mention that the pakoras are all vegan and gluten-free? If you specify that your order is vegan (as the cart’s menu board encourages), they’ll put mango chutney and hot pickle on your plate, but hold the raita. The latter is a vegetarian yogurt and cucumber sauce.

(Just don’t ask for a disposable fork. “The corporate food trucks have forks,” one customer was told, in good humour, at the fest in Kitsilano.)

I ordered a large plate of the Super Beet pakoras. Although I couldn’t see or taste any beets, the oily snacks were delicious enough that I didn’t care. The hot pickle was quite sour and spicy, as it should be, while the chutney was adequate.

Varinicey Pakoras shows up at a variety of local festivals and markets. Recent stops include the Food Cart Fest in Vancouver and the Shipyards Night Market in North Vancouver. For location updates, you can follow Varinicey Pakoras on Twitter.