Vegetable Pakoras
February 19th, 2007 filed under Appetizers, Vegan
Pakoras are an all-time favorite snack in India- perfect for a rainy day or a cocktail party! Pakoras are delicious paired with a cup of hot spicy Indian Chai.
Pakoras are made with different vegetables, which are dipped in a spicy besan (gram flour) batter and deep-fried.
This recipe uses potatoes, cauliflower and zucchini.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup besan (gram flour)
- 3 tablespoons rice flour (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of coarsely ground coriander powder (dhania)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 2 chopped green chilies
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 3/4 cup of water (Use water as needed)
- Oil to fry
- 1 small potato, sliced thin
- 8 thin slices of cauliflower
- 1/2 small zucchini, sliced thin
Method:
- Mix all the dry ingredients together: besan, rice flour, coriander powder, and salt. Tip: rice flour adds to the crispness.
- Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be consistency of pancake batter or dosa batter)
- Next, add the green chilies and cilantro. Mix well.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
- The frying pan should have at least 11/2 inch of oil. (To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away).
- Dip the vegetable slices in the batter one at a time and slowly drop in frying pan.
- Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 4 to 5 minutes to cook.
- Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.
- Repeat this process. The crispy, delicious pakoras are ready to serve.
Tips:
If oil is too hot pakoras will not be crispy and or if oil is not hot enough pakoras will be greasy.
Variations:
You can use almost any vegetable when making these pakoras, such as eggplant, onion, cabbage, bell pepper, and different kinds of chilies! Feel free to experiment!
Serving Suggestions:
- The pakoras are even tastier when dipped in fresh cilantro chutney, tamarind chutney, ranch dressing.
- Pakoras taste best when served hot.
- You can make the pakoras in advance and when ready to eat, spread on a cookie sheet and heat in the oven on 300-degree heat. You can also make sandwiches with the left over pakoras.
Used Bob’s Red Mill Chickpea flour from the natural food section of the grocery store, they came out awesome! Better than at a restaurant! Especially the cauliflower, mmm.
[...] much indebted for the idea and the thought of whipping the egg whites! These end up very similar to vegetable pakora, which I love also, and I may yet try this recipe with chickpea flour. I bet it would [...]
Thank you for this easy recipe. I tried it and it taste delicious. I made a variation. I couldn’t find the gram flour, so I substituted with all purpose flour, corn starch and added a teaspoon of turmeric for color. They came out great.
Thank you for this great recipe!! There are alot of Vegetable Pakora recipes out there and I found that yours is the best tasting and so simple to prepare. Thanks again.
I feel that I am about to become a big fan of your site. ~Sarah~
Hi manjula ji,
I’m really a great fan of your cooking. Thanks for sharing all your recepies.
I have one question regarding pakors. For how long I should keep them in oven at 300 C to reheat them.or If i keep them at around 150 C for long (3-4 hrs), will they be crispy? I’m hosting a party so wanna know it. Thanks a lot
Pooja,
make a one batch of pakora and try,
Enjoyed making your vegetable pekoras and hari chutney….found it so very tasty. Thank you for such wonderful viedeos.
Would like to know if I have to roast the cumin and coriander seeds when making the vegetable pekoras. Thank. you
I tried this recipe and love it
Very tasty!!
I tried this recipe and love it. I want to bring this to work for lunch. How can I keep it crispy from morning to afternoon?? do I reheat it?
thanks!
It is really wonderful to learn the recipes from you Manjula anuty. If i want to cook something special i will call my mother and ask but now i just refer to your recipies,
Thank u very much.
Best wishes