aloo pakora recipe with step by step photos and video – crisp and golden batter coated fried potato fritters. potato bajji has always been a favorite tea time snack at home.
cooked soft melt in the mouth potato slices…. golden and crisp… with some coriander chutney & tamarind date chutney…. fantabulous…..
the aloo bajji 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, tamarind chutney and garlic red chili chutney.
aloo ka pakodas 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 know 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 aloo 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 🙂
aloo pakora recipe video
how to make potato bajji or aloo pakora
1: add all the dry ingredients for the batter in a bowl. the dry ingredients are – 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), a pinch of baking soda (optional) and salt as required.
2: add ⅔ to ¾ cup water and make a medium consistency batter.
3: slice 1 medium sized potato 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.
frying aloo pakora
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 aloo pakora, 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 pakora 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 potato bajji.
7: drain aloo pakora 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 potato bajji with homemade white bread and pomegranate chutney. while serving pakora sprinkle ½ to 1 tsp chaat masala powder. they will also go well with masala tea or filter coffee.
more pakora recipes
aloo pakora
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium to large potato
- 1 cup gram flour (besan)
- 2 tablespoons rice flour
- ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ garam masala powder
- a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
- ⅔ to ¾ cup water
- ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder for sprinkling on the pakoras
- 1 pinch baking soda, optional
- salt as required
INSTRUCTIONS
making pakora batter
- in a bowl take all the dry ingredients – besan, rice flour, carom seeds, red chili powder, garam masala powder, asafoetida (hing), baking soda (optional) and 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.
making aloo pakora
- 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 till golden and crisp.
- drain the pakora on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- finish off the remaining aloo pakora this way in batches.
- serve aloo pakora hot sprinkled with some chaat masala powder.
- you can also serve them with chutney or tomato sauce accompanied with slices of bread or buns.
RECIPE VIDEO
NOTES
- if you have gluten intolerance, then avoid adding asafeotida (hing) in the batter as the ground ones have traces of wheat.
What if you don’t have rice flour? I am going to the Indian store later to see if I can find it.
skip rice flour and add the same amount of besan (gram flour).
Thank you so much, I have made several of your recipes and all have turned out fabulous!
welcome shreya and thank you.
Thanks for the recipe Dassana.I will try to make these tasty pakoras.
Welcome Anu
thanks a lot
Welcome Dr San
yeah…..I m really happy to c all the awsme recipes n I vl surely try to make these awsme recipes…oh I’m feeling happy…..
thanks jiya
Thank you for ur recipes..all my relatives like when I cook it
welcome farhana. glad to know this.
These were really tasty, and I had some crunch! Amazing how far a single potato can go 🙂
thanks ralph
Dear Dassana,
I have a doubt here. First, one cup besan for just one potato??? That means its too much of batter and it coated thickly. But on the other side, from ur pics I see that the batter is of medium consistency, not very thick.. Please throw light.
1 cup of besan is enough for making a thick to medium consistency batter for 1 potato. 1 cup is about 150 grams of gram flour. of course the medium size will vary from place to place. so if the batter is left, then some potatoes can be added in it.
Wat do u do to make it puffy. .my pakoras Don get puffy at all.tnx.
just add a pinch of baking soda. you can also whisk the batter very well and this will also give puffed pakoras.
hey . love ur website a lot. I’m iranian married to Indian guy..tried ur aloo pakora as tried first time in my wedding..but unfortunately it dint become like urs. its not at all puffy. I added chickpea flour and rice flour and baking soda and salt.din have other ingredients. will b so happy if u can help me somehow thank you.
just replied mahsa. you have to make a thick or medium thick batter. the batter should coat the potato slices very well. also while frying, the oil has to be medium hot.
Dear Dassana Thanks for recipe
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
welcome kim and thanks for this positive feedback.
welcome azhar
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
thanks a lot kimberly.
All the recipe from this website are so rich & delicious. My kids like everything whatever i tried from these recipes. Thanks a lot.
thanks kamaljit 🙂
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
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.
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
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’
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.
thanks anchal for your suggestions. will try next time.
we call it as bajji !
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.