Bread Pakora (With and Without Stuffing)

Bread Pakora is a much loved snack of deep fried and savory bread fritters from the North Indian Cuisine, especially Punjabi Cuisine. Bread pakoda or bread bajji are made with a spiced batter of gram flour aka besan, spices and salt. They are either stuffed with a mashed potato stuffing or made without any stuffing. Here, I share two delicious ways of making bread pakora.

1. Stuffed Bread Pakora – Punjabi style recipe with a savory, spiced potato stuffing, dipped in gram flour batter and fried.
2. Bread Bajji without stuffing – Easy recipe of a simple batter coated bread that is deep fried.

Both these bread pakora variations are easy. The stuffed bread pakoda recipe has some preparation to be done while the plain bread bajji recipe is a breeze to make.

What is Bread Pakora

In English you can simply call Bread Pakora as Bread Fritters. Note that these are savory fritters and not sweet. Bread Pakora is the North Indian term while bread bajji is a South Indian term.

A simple bread pakoda would have halved bread slices dipped and coated in gram flour batter and deep fried.

In fact my fond memories of bread pakoda are of course having them piping hot on street-side carts in Mumbai and also having these made by my mother-in-law for weekend breakfasts.

The bread pakoda sold on the street side stalls and restaurants in India have a spicy, tangy potato stuffing.

When you make them at home, you can choose to vary the basic potato stuffing by including some add ons like steamed green peas, cheese or paneer (Indian cottage cheese). You can vary the spices or herbs to suit your family’s tastebuds.

About this recipe

• Batter: I always carom seeds (ajwain) and a few spices into the batter. Carom seeds give a nice aroma and also help in digestion. You can even add a pinch of asafoetida (hing), grated or chopped ginger in the gram flour batter – both of which help in digestion.
• Potato stuffing: My recipe has real Punjabi flavors with warm, aromatic spices. It is spiced, tangy and oh so good. Moreover you do not have to spend any time in frying or sautéing anything. Simply mix the ground spices to the mashed potatoes and your potato stuffing is ready.
• Bread: You can use any bread. The best taste and texture comes with white bread. Since I do not include white bread, I make these fritters with homemade whole wheat bread, or brown bread.

Bread pakoda is a favorite breakfast and tea time snack at our home. We love these bread fritters and enjoy it with a sweet tangy dipping sauce or a spicy chutney accompanied with a cup of hot Indian masala chai.

How to make Bread Pakora

Before you begin making this delicious snack of bread pakora, you have to prepare the potato stuffing. The potatoes can be cooked in a pan, pressure cooker or Instant Pot.

Cooking potatoes

1. Boil or steam 2 medium-sized or 1 large potato in a pressure cooker or steamer or in the IP until they are fork tender. When the potatoes become warm, then peel and grate them. Set aside. You can also mash them.

1. Cooking potatoes in a stove-top pressure cooker

Rinse and place them in a 2-litre pressure cooker. Add enough water just about covering them. Pressure cook on a medium flame for 3 to 4 whistles or 7 to 9 minutes. Drain the water. Let the potatoes become warm. Peel, grate or mash.

2. Cooking potatoes in a pan

Rinse, peel and then dice potatoes. Add the chopped potatoes in a pan. Add water just enough to cover them. You can add a bit of salt. Cover and cook potatoes till they are softened. Later drain all the water very well. When the potatoes become warm then peel and grate them. You can even mash them.

3. Cooking in the Instant Pot

Rinse and place the potatoes in the inner steel insert of the Instant Pot. Add enough water just about covering the potatoes. Pressure cook on high for 8 to 10 minutes.

Give a quick pressure release (QPR) after 5 to 7 minutes. Check to see if the potatoes are cooked. If underdone, then pressure cook for some more minutes. Remove the potatoes with pasta tongs. Let them become warm or cool at room temperature. Then peel and mash.

2. Add the following ingredients to the grated or mashed potatoes:

• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
• 1 to 2 green chillies (finely chopped)
• ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
• ½ teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) and
• salt as per taste to the grated potatoes.

Substitute ½ teaspoon lemon juice for dry mango powder.

3. Mix the spices and herbs very well with the mashed potatoes. Check the seasonings and adjust accordingly. Set aside.

Making batter

4. In a mixing bowl, take the following ingredients:

• 1 cup besan (gram flour)
• ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
• ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper
• 1 to 2 pinches turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
• 1 to 2 pinches baking soda
• salt as required

Adding baking soda is completely optional but it helps in the bread pakoda light and fluffy.

5. First add ½ cup water and mix very well. Batter consistency should not be very thick nor too thin. If it is too thick, then add more water.

Overall you can add ½ to ⅔ cup of water depending on the quality and texture of the flour.

6. To the batter, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of hot oil when you keep the oil for deep frying on the stove-top. Mix well.

Whisk briskly non-stop for 1 to 2 minutes to incorporate some air into the batter. Keep the ready batter aside.

Assembling

7. On the chopping board, slice the bread into triangle or rectangle slices.

8. Take around 2 to 3 tablespoons of the mashed potato mixture and spread it on the bread evenly.

9. Cover this potato stuffed slice with another slice. You now have a triangular bread sandwich. Just slightly press the sandwich.

Frying Bread Pakora

10. Heat the oil for deep frying and check if the oil is ready by adding a drop of the batter. If the batter starts sizzling and comes gradually on the surface of the oil, the oil is ready.

If it does not come up on the surface, then the oil needs to get more hot – so increase the heat slightly. If it comes very quickly on top, the oil is too hot – so reduce the heat a bit.

11. Take the entire sandwich in your hand and dip it in the besan batter.

 12. Coat the stuffed bread sandwich evenly with the besan batter. Be gentle with the sandwich. Take care not to keep the stuffed bread sandwich a long time in besan batter as the bread will break.

You can hold the batter bowl in your left hand and then bring it near the pan or kadai having the oil. Take the bread and gently coat it with gram flour batter.

Slid off the extra batter on the edges of the bowl and then move the batter coated bread from the bowl to the pan or kadai having the hot oil. Place bread gently into the hot oil.

13. Gently slid the besan batter coated bread sandwich in the oil. Be careful while placing bread in hot oil. Place gently.

14. Add two to three pieces of bread pakora depending on the size of the kadai, but do not overcrowd the kadai or pan. Begin to deep fry on a medium to medium-high flame.

15. When one side is light golden, gently turn over and fry the second side. Be careful when turning over as these are heavy. So turn over gently and carefully.

16. Gently flip a couple of times more and fry on a medium to medium-high flame till they are crisp and golden brown.

17. Remove the crisp and golden fried pakora with a slotted spoon draining the extra oil.

18. Place the fried bread pakoda on kitchen paper towels so that excess oil is absorbed. In the same way, fry the remaining bread pakoda and place them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.

19. Serve Bread Pakora hot or warm.

Serving Suggestions

Bread pakora pairs nicely with a coriander or mint chutney. It also tastes delish with sweet dipping sauces like tomato ketchup or sweet tamarind chutney.

You can also serve these tasty aloo bread pakoda with a dry onion-garlic chutney and coconut chutney.

Pair them with a ginger chai or masala chai for a truly Indian evening chai experience.

Expert Tips

1. Potatoes: Use potatoes which have a hight starch content like Idaho or Russet potatoes. You don’t want to use potatoes which are new potatoes or having a gluey gummy texture.
2. Gram Flour: Most Indian fritter recipes are made with Gram Flour which is flour made from husked and split chana dal. Chana dal is also called as bengal gram. Basically these are brown chickpeas which have been hulled and split. That said, you can even use chickpea flour which is made from white chickpeas (garbanzo beans or kabuli chana).
3. Spices and Herbs: You can make a number of variations in the recipe by adding different combinations of spices and herbs both in the besan batter as well as in the potato stuffing. Fresh herbs like mint leaves, cilantro (coriander leaves), ginger, garlic and spices like green chillies, ground cumin or ground coriander powder, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, curry powder or garam masala can be added.
4. Oily Pakoda: To avoid oily pakoda, fry at medium heat in the oil. Do not fry on a low heat as then the pakoda will absorb more oil. Frying on a high heat will cook and brown the pakoda from outside leaving the insides raw and uncooked.
   Pro tip: Adding 1 to 2 teaspoons hot oil to the besan batter helps in making the pakoda crisp and reduces the oil absorption.
5. Batter Consistency: Make a medium consistency batter. A thick batter will be dense and not have a soft, fluffy outer texture. A thin batter will make the pakoda soggy by absorbing too much oil.
6. Scaling: You can easily halve or double the recipe.
7. Make ahead: If you plan to make bread pakoda for morning breakfasts or evening snacks, then you can make the potato stuffing some hours or a day ahead and refrigerate it.

FAQs

How to make bread pakora on tawa?

Some times I make bread pakora on tawa. For frying two potato stuffed batter coated slices, heat about 3 to 4 tablespoons oil. When the first side is golden, gently turn over and fry the second side. Place the bread with the stuffing sides/edges touching the pan so that these are also cooked.

Is bread pakora healthy?

Bread pakora are deep-fried, thus it is better to eat them occasionally. They are also made with white bread which is not a healthy choice for a bread.

Are Indian pakoras gluten free?

Yes, pakoras are gluten-free as the batter is made entirely with gram flour (besan) and occasionally with some rice flour thrown in. Besan is gram flour or brown chickpea flour. When asafetida is added in the gram flour batter, pakora is no longer gluten-free.

Can bread pakora be air-fried or baked?

Yes, you can bake or air fry them at 180 degrees celsius. I have tried baking as well as air-frying and the texture is not that great. If you are looking to have the same texture like that of a deep fried pakoda, then you will be disappointed. That said, for a healthy version, you can bake or air-fry them. Preheat either the oven or air-fryer for 10 minutes prior to baking or air-frying. For a crisp, soft crust, add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil into the besan batter.

How to check oil temperature?

Mostly for any kind of deep frying, the temperature of the oil is 180 degrees to 190 degrees Celsius (360 degrees to 375 degrees Fahrenheit). If you have a deep fry thermometer or candy thermometer, you can easily measure these temperatures with them.

But what if you do not own a thermometer? You can still check the temperature by following any of the two methods listed below.

1. Drop tiny droplets of batter in oil. If the batter droplets sizzle, and rise to the top gradually, the oil is ready. If droplets are stuck at the bottom of the pan or comes up slowly on the surface the oil is not hot enough. If the batter droplets come up briskly, quickly on the oil surface and get browed rapidly, the oil is very hot.
2. Place a small bread cube in the hot oil. If the bread cube turns golden in a time span of about 1 minute, the temperature is perfect for frying. If it gets burnt or turns very dark, the oil is extremely hot and needs to cool slightly. You will have to let the oil heat up more, if the cube is pale colored.

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Bread Bajji

As I have mentioned above bread bajji or bread pakoda without stuffing is a quick delicious snack of bread coated with spiced gram flour batter and then deep-fried.

For the bread bajji recipe you can use any type of bread. Usually I use whole wheat bread, but for street-style taste and texture use white bread.

Step-by-step Bread Bajji

Making batter

1. In a mixing bowl, take all the dry ingredients – 1 cup gram flour (besan), ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain), ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder and two pinches of baking soda. Add salt as required.

2. Add the wet ingredients – ½ teaspoon hot oil (from the pan or kadai in which you have kept oil for deep-frying) and water to make a medium thick batter. Add water in parts and about ⅔ to ¾ cup water or as required.

3. Whisk to a smooth batter without any lumps.

Preparing bread

4. Slice the bread slices in rectangles or triangles.

5. Dip each slice in the besan batter. Evenly coat bread slice with the gram flour batter.

Frying bread bajji

6. Place the bread slices in medium hot oil for frying. Add a few more batter coated slices.

7. Fry the bajji in medium hot oil turning over a couple of times to ensure even cooking and browning.

8. Fry until crisp and golden.

9. Remove with a slotted or perforated spoon and drain as much oil as possible.

10. Place them on kitchen paper towels to drain excess oil.

11. Sprinkle a bit of chaat masala on the bread bajji. Serve bread bajji hot or warm with any chutney or dips like sweet tamarind dates chutney or coriander chutney or even coconut chutney or tomato ketchup or mint chutney or tomato chutney.

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This recipe post from the archives (September 2010) has been republished and updated on 28 December 2020.