Onion pakoras or onion fritters is a popular Indian street food. It is one snack that is easy to prepare and tastes good too. In India pakoras are usually served with some fried salted green chilies and a green chutney or sweet chutney. this whole combo is also served with the Indian chai.
Since onion pakoras are often made in my home, I have updated the old pics with new ones. This is my m-i-l’s recipe. My mom makes a different version and in marathi we call it kanda bhaji (where kanda means onions & bhaji means fritters)
Keep the batter of medium consistency. Don’t make the batter too thin or thick. Below pic will show you the consistency of the batter for onion pakoras.
The pakoras can be shallow fried or deep fried. I usually shallow fry.
You can also bake the onion pakoras. I have never tried baking pakoras, but have seen some friends doing this. Baked pakoras will taste differently than fried ones.
But if you want to have a fried version, then just best to make that and enjoy the hot pakoras with a steaming cup of indian chai. The pakoras also taste good with bread and can be sandwiched between bread slices with sliced veggies and some sauces or a vegetarian or vegan mayonnaise.
you might also love to check these pakora recipes:
- palak pakora
- bread pakora
- raw banana pakoras
- crisp cabbage pakora
- punjabi kadhi pakora
- bread pakoras with cheese
- bread pakora with stuffed potato
onion pakoras recipe details are below:
- 2 to 3 medium sized onions
- 2 cups gram flour or besan
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder (optional)
- ¾ tsp ajwain or carom seeds
- A pinch of asafoetida or hing
- Oil for shallow frying or deep frying – sunflower oil or any neutral flavored oil
- water as required
- salt as required
- Peel the onions.
- Rinse and slice them thinly.
- Add the chilli powder, garam masala powder, asafoetida, salt and chick pea flour to the sliced onions.
- Add water and mix it to a thick and smooth consistency.
- Add little water in the beginning as the onions will release water later and so the batter becomes too watery.
- The pakoras won’t turn out good if the batter becomes watery.
- You can add more besan if you feel the batter is not thick and smooth. You can always adjust the content of besan and water by adding it more if you feel you have not got the right consistency.
- Now heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Take a teaspoonful of the onion batter and add it in the oil. On a medium heat fry the onion pakoras till golden brown.
- Serve hot with tomato sauce, green chutney and bread or pav.
The onions have to be sliced thinly and not thickly as thin slices will get cooked faster than thick slices. If the slices are thick, then while frying the chick pea flour or besan gets cooked but the onion slices remain half cooked.
You can either make it in the above way, or there is another method of making the pakoras. Add salt and the spice powders to the onions and keep for 15-20 mins. The onions will release water. Now add the besan. Add the required amount of water later. You may even not add any water to the batter and the result would be a crisp onion pakora
Some cooks use a pinch of cooking soda in the batter to add that extra fluffiness to the pakoras. I don’t like the taste and flavour of cooking soda, so I have not used it.
In the batter, you can also add 1 or 2 teaspoon of oil. This makes the pakoras crisp and it absorbs less oil while frying.
The temperature of the oil has to be correct while frying. The oil should not be too hot or cold. If it is hot, then the outside of the pakoras will get fried but the inside will be undercooked.
If it is not hot, then the pakoras will absorb oil while frying and will be too oil-laden once fried.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the swift response!
I never realized you should use hing like that! You learn something new every day. I made these pakora’s just now (but I put the hing in the oil, as I didn’t see your response in time). They were delicious.
May I also recommend a teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds? I love the aniseed flavour in combination with the sweet onions.
Oh, I shallow fried them in the end, though next time I might try your baking method.
On a side have you tried this batter on radishes? I wonder how shredded mooli would be?
thats cool… the oil must have been fragrant with the aroma of the hing… yes crushed fennel seeds do add a lot of flavor & taste. sometimes even i add these to the pakoras.
i have never ever tried the same batter with radishes. but i have made pakoras with shredded lauki aka bottle gourd – a kind of indian squash. you can also make pakoras with green bell pepper. aubergines slices, potato slices, bitter gourd/karela, shredded cabbage, cauliflower. mixed grated veggies and even bread.
i guess they don’t make mooli pakoras in india as the mooli might lend it not so good aroma to the batter and eventually to the pakoras. so the result would be no one having the mooli pakoras.
Hello,
I see you advocate the use of hing in this recipe, since it is in the ingredients list, but you don’t show it’s use on the method.
Can I assume, like always, that the hing is added to the oil when is hot, and just before you add the pakora’s?
What is your feeling on deep frying?
Regards,
Gary
thanks gary for pointing out the error. i have forgotten to mention about hing in the post. will update the post.
the hing is added to the batter and not to the oil. when we deep fry indian snacks, we never add hing to the oil. the hing is added to the batter or to the stuffing. only when we make stir fried or sauted dishes or when tempering for dal etc, we add the hing to the oil.
in pakoras i always add hing as they help in digestion since they are fried & also the chickpea flour can become heavy sometimes on the stomach.
instead of deep frying you can also shallow fry. you can also bake the pakoras with some oil brushed on them. baking will be healthy option but sometimes one can go for indulgent options like deep fried pakoras