aloo pakora or batata bhajji as i call them has always been a favorite snack at home.
cooked soft melt in the mouth potato slices…. golden and crisp… with some coriander chutney & tamarind date chutney…. fantabulous…..
the aloo pakora is also a street food snack in mumbai. near my office, a lady vendor would make these pakoras and we would often visit her during the breaks just to have these hot hot pakoras sandwiched in pav (indian buns), drizzled with green chutney, sweet chutney and garlic red chili chutney.
pakoras are an awesome snack that you will feel really good having in the winters or monsoons. they warm up your tea time with family and friends.
these aloo pakoras that i made were not heavy. generally they are. i was wondering what is the difference. i realized that i fried the pakoras in rice bran oil and that made a big difference. they were very light. i made both potato and spring onion pakoras on this day and both of them were light.
usually i fry them in sunflower oil and i do feel a subtle heaviness after having them. but not this time. rice bran oil is a good alternative to other oils.
i made the aloo pakoras for evening snacks with tea. i am showing a step by step method as i personally now many people, especially folks who are new to cooking do not get the texture of the pakoras as well the consistency of the batter right. each potato slice has to be coated completely with the batter and the pakoras should puff up while frying. thats an ideal aloo pakora.
i hope this step by step method helps you to make yummy as well as pakoras the way they should be made… better than what the halwais make 
lets start step by step batata bhajji or aloo pakora recipe:
1: add all the dry ingredients for the batter in a bowl.
2: add water and make a medium consistency batter.
3: slice the potatoes with a knife and keep aside. avoid using mandolin slicer as the potato slices are too thin and the result is a pakora where the potatoes become crisp but not soft, when fried.
4: heat oil in a kadai. dip the slice in the batter and
5: add it to the oil. the oil should not be very hot or cool. before adding the pakoras, add a pinch of the batter in the oil. if it comes up too quickly the oil is very hot. it should come up steadily. if it does not come up or comes very slowly, the oil is not hot.
6: fry all the aloo pakoras this way till golden from both the sides. keep a bowl of water on the work surface, so that you can quickly rinse your batter coated fingers in the bowl and then dry them with a kitchen towel. this way your hands will be less messy while making the pakoras.
7: drain aloo pakoras on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
8: serve aloo pakora hot with coriander chutney or sweet chutney or tomato sauce. i served the aloo pakoras with homemade white bread and pomegranate chutney.
if you are looking for more pakora recipes then do check onion pakora, palak pakora, gobi pakoras, methi pakoras and bread pakora with potato stuffing.
batata bhajji or aloo pakora recipe below:
- 1 medium size potato
- 1 cup gram flour/besan
- 2 tbsp rice flour
- ½ tsp carom seeds/ajwain
- ¼ tsp red chili powder
- ¼ garam masala powder
- a pinch of asafoetida/hing
- ⅔ to ¾ cup water
- ½ or 1 tsp chaat masala powder for sprinkling on the pakoras
- a pinch of baking soda (optional)
- salt as required
- mix well all the dry ingredients with water.
- check the seasoning and add more if required.
- peel and slice the potatoes thinly in rounds.
- heat oil for frying in a kadai or pan.
- dip each potato slice in the batter and place it gently in hot oil.
- do these for some 5-6 potato slices each time.
- fry aloo pakoras till golden and crisp.
- drain on paper towels.
- finish off the remaining aloo pakoras this way in batches.
- serve aloo pakora hot sprinkled with some chaat masala powder.
- you can also serve aloo pakoras with chutney or tomato sauce accompanied with slices of bread or buns.
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azhar khan says
Dear Dassana Thanks for recipe
Kim Star says
My four children and I have been making and devouring all your recipes! Thanks and kudos to such an easy, delicious and healthy recipe site. The Star family
dassana amit says
welcome kim and thanks for this positive feedback.
Kimberly says
This is the best website on Indian food.
Its so easy to interpret with all the pictures and the recipes are delicious.
I can see the amount of work put into this.
Thank You
dassana says
thanks a lot kimberly.
kamaljit says
All the recipe from this website are so rich & delicious. My kids like everything whatever i tried from these recipes. Thanks a lot.
dassana says
thanks kamaljit
Huma says
Hi Dassana,
Like the recipe but never heard of rice bran oil. Now will have to go to a desi store here in New Jersey and will inquire about it. I have a question I have seen rice flour in the store but they sell it in really big quantities if I grind the rice it will be the same, right? And if cannot find the rice bran oil is canola oil ok in which I do all the cooking. Thanx
dassana says
the rice ground at home will be same. if you have mill or flour grinder you can easily grind rice or dals at home. i have read both good and bad things about canola oil. i have not even used canola oil. so i cannot tell you from experience how canola oil is. rice bran oil is used in the asian countries. what i got was organic rice bran oil.
this easy chart link here might solve your confusion: http://www.eatingrules.com/Cooking-Oil-Comparison-Chart_02-22-12.pdf
have a look at this post too: http://smallbites.andybellatti.com/eight-cooking-oil-facts-everyone-must-be-aware-of/
Janardan Mali says
Dear Dassana,
Namaskar.
Thank you vary much for the recipe.
The Batata Bhajji recipe presented by you is a traditional recipe.
Before wetting/coating potato slices my mother used to add one table spoon of hot oil from Kadhai to the batter to get more crispy potato pakodas. This adding of hot oil to batter is known as ‘ Mohan’
Regards
Janardan Mali
dassana says
thanks mali ji. even we add some hot oil to the batter. i forgot to mention in the post. not only this method makes the pakoras crispy but the batter also soak less oil. thanks for letting me know that this technique is called ‘mohan’
anchal says
if you will add extract of garlic n ginger in the besan mixture then pakoras will become more crispy n yummy.
just take garlic ,ginger n green chilli mash them and add little amount of water in it. take out the extract n then add to besan.
dassana says
thanks anchal for your suggestions. will try next time.
aparna says
we call it as bajji !
Anamika | madcookingfusions says
Looks really tempting Dassana, it’s quite some time since I made these at home, reminds me of the mix pakoras that we use to get in delhi.