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Crispy Spinach Pakoras

Spinach pakoras are delicious as a snack. Spinach pakoras can be served many different ways and they always taste great. One of my favorite ways to serve these pakoras is papdi chaat.

Recipe makes about 30 pieces

Crispy Spinach PakorasIngredients:

For Batter

  • ½ cup gram flour (basen)
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch (arrow root powder)
  • ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
  • About 3/4 cup water

Also need

  • About 30 fresh spinach leaves
  • Oil to fry

Method

  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together: besan, corn starch, black pepper, cumin seeds, asafetida, and salt. Corn starch adds to the crispness.
  2. Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be thin consistency).
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
  4. The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ 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.
  5. Dip the spinach leaf into the batter one at a time, making sure it is covered by the batter completely; wipe it from side of the batter bowl making sure batter is evenly spread over spinach. Then, slowly drop in the slices into the frying pan.
  6. Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook.
  7. Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.
  8. The crispy, delicious pakoras are now ready to serve.
  9. They can be stored for several days in air tight container.

Tips

If oil is too hot pakoras will not be crispy; if oil is not hot enough, pakoras will be greasy.

Serving Suggestions

  1. Spinach pakoras can be served as chips with your choice of dipping sauce.
  2. Spinach crisp can also be served as papdi chaat.

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37 thoughts on “Crispy Spinach Pakoras

  1. I didn’t have spinach so I sliced a potato really thin and followed the same recipe. It came out great!
    Next time I’ll try to serve it as a chaat with yogurt and tamarind+cilantro chutneys.

  2. Once I got it through my head that the batter really does need to be thin, they came out great! Next time I will cut down just a little on the hing and maybe try cayenne pepper instead of black pepper. Even my mother (who isn’t accustomed to the spices used in Indian cooking) liked them!

  3. manjula ji,
    i myself love cooking but not as expert as u are ut i am trying …. whenever i get free time i always love trying new dishes. few months back i got to see one of your dishes .since then i have been cooking more wonderful dishes for my boys… n they love them ….i want to thank u very much for the wonderful work n brilliant receipes … thank u very much …

  4. I am an American who loves Indian food and enjoy your website very much. I have not prepared many of your dishes yet, but hope to very soon. I have a question about asafetida (hing). I have not seen it even in the Asian grocers here, but was wondering if it is necessary to the flavor of the dish. What is its benefit to the recipe? Thank you!

    1. Naomi, hing is only found at Indian grocery stores. It gives a hint of flavor similar to onion and garlic, but if you don’t have any hing the dish will still taste good. Don’t worry about it.

  5. Thank You very much for the recipe, Its great to eat food that mom makes, but now i am able to do it myself in college. Great thanks, i guess i don’t miss mums cooking any more!!

  6. Hi Manjula Aunty,

    Your spinach pakora recipe is soooo good! my boyfriend loved them! crunchy and crispy, they were delightfully easy to make… thank you!

    p.s. u’re super cute and adorable…

    1. If you have an oven or toaster oven you could probably get the same effect by broiling. Put it on a pan lightly-coated with oil and broil for a few minutes, turn over, then broil a few minutes more.

  7. Dear Manjula: I just discovered your site while helping a friend find a vegetarian Indian recipe for a good-bye party for an Indian friend. I have watched a couple of recipes myself and wanted to thank you for being so entertaining and informative. They look delicious and can’t wait to try a few, especially the zucchini rice and the spinach pakoras. Thank you very much! Cheers, Michael B

    1. The unhealthiness of fried foods depends on a variety of things. An oil or fat loaded with hydrogenated oils or partially-hydrogenated oils isn’t healthy. Cooking with Safflower Oil, Canola Oil, etc is a MUCH healthier option as these aren’t hydrogenated or loaded with fat. The fat they do contain are primarily mono- and poly- unsaturated fats which are actually beneficial to the body (in moderation of course). And when cooking with healthier oils we can help boost the quality of health by allowing oil to run off foods and into the pan before putting the foods on our plate. Fried food in this manner does have health value.

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