Spicy and cruncy Pakoras are the Indian version of our Latkes. These fritters are fried and crunchy and based on vegetables, spices and flour, usually gram flour (also called Besan or chickpeas flour). In northern India Pakoras are called Bhaji and its essentially the same thing.
There are lots of versions and variations for vegetable pakoras with different spice mix and vegetables. More Pakora recipes coming soon!
The pakoras are usually served with green chutney (like this one) and tamarind chutney (recipe here) but any kind of chutney will work here – tomatoes, coconut, cilantro etc.
Ingredients (about 30 Pakoras)
- 2 green capsicum
- 1 cup gram flour
- 1/4 cup water
- bunch of cilantro leaves
- 1 large onion
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder or 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes or 1/2 diced fresh green chilli
- pinch of asofetida
Directions
Chop the green capsicum into small cubes. Slice the onion into thin wedges. Chop the cilantro leaves. Put all the ingredients excluding the water in a bowl and mix well. Add the water gradually until you get a thin mixture covering the vegetables. If it looks too dry add more water and if it’s too runny add more gram flour, but make sure you don’t add to much water so the mixture won’t become too thin. See below a pic of the prepared mixture.
At this stage you have two options – fry or bake. Traditionally Pakoras are deep fried but baking also works here. If you choose frying heat a generous amount of oil in a pan (theoretically you should deep fry but usually don’t do that and it works just fine), when the oil is hot gently place one tablespoon of the mixture in the oil and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
If you choose baking heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place one tablespoon of the mixture on a greased baking sheet and flatten a bit. Bake the Pakoras for about 10 minutes and then flip them to the other side and bake for about 3 more minutes or until golden. If you bake the Pakoras for too long the capsicum will become mushy and the Pakoras will be less crunchy.
Comments and suggestions
- Seasoning. In this recipe ALL the spices are optional and you can omit all of them (including the salt) and still get tasty Pakoras. You can replace the Asofetida with 2 crashed garlic cloves. It’s also possible to add 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Amchoor (dried mango powder that you can get in Indian grocery shops) and some grated ginger. You can also replace the cumin seeds with grounded cumin.
- Asofetida. That’s a hell of a spice that like to take over the whole dish. Make sure you put just a pinch of it.
- Crunch. In order to get maximum crunch it’s highly suggested to add 2 tbs of rice flour. Another option is adding 1 tsp of baking soda.
In short
Finely dice the capsicum and slice the onion into thin wedges. Chop the cilantro. Mix all the ingredients except the water. Add the water gradually until the vegetables are thinly covered by the mixture. Heat oil in a pan and gently put 1 tablespoon of the mixture, fry 2-3 from each side. If you choose to bake heat the oven to 180 degrees and bake 10 minutes on one side and then 3 minutes on the other side until golden. Serve with green chutney and Tamarind chutney.
