Palak Pakoda Recipe (Indian Spinach Fritters)

Palak Pakoda (also called Palak Pakora) are tasty deep-fried spinach fritters made with fresh spinach leaves (palak), gram flour (besan), onion, herbs and spices. These scrumptious pakoras make for a quick vegan snack too. Pakoda is a favorite snack with many Indians. It is simply a batter mixed or coated crispy fried fritter made with various vegetables. On this post, I have shared one of my favorite pakora variants from the North Indian cuisine, that’s done with a fresh seasonal leafy green.

Palak Pakoda Recipe

There are many variations of making a Palak Pakoda recipe. But usually, there are 2 ways that many of us are accustomed with – one is a traditional, more classic way and the other is a unique way of making these crispy, savory snack.

The easy method is to mix finely chopped spinach leaves in a spiced gram flour batter and deep fried. This is the most common method that I share here.

The second technique creates crispy spinach fritters. With a similar gram flour batter, this method, has each spinach leaf dipped in the gram flour batter and then deep fried.

You get a distinct taste of spinach in these fritters as the leaves are kept whole, and this variant is often served as is with a chutney dip or made into a scrumptious Palak Patta Chaat.

Both these methods of preparing the Palak Pakoda are quick, simple, easy and yield in supremely amazing tasting fritters.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, ‘pakoda or pakora’ is the Hindi term for ‘fritters.’ ‘Palak’ is the Hindi word for ‘spinach.’ Hence, very rightly, this snack dish is named as Palak Pakoda.

There are many variants of these yummy fritters in our Indian cuisine. This simple Palak Pakoda recipe is from my mother’s collection of recipes. This recipe is also a vegan one.

These are made with of course besan (gram flour), onions, spices, herbs and white sesame seeds with chopped spinach added in it.

Kindly note that besan or gram flour is ground skinned small black chickpeas. It is different from chickpea flour that is made from white chickpeas.

The sesame seeds add a lovely taste and light crunch in this conventional, yet tasty Palak Pakoda. The onions add some sweetness which balances the metallic flavors of the spinach.

You can easily bake this pakoda, if you prefer not to fry. This will definitely result in a healthier version with all the goodness of the spinach, sesame seeds and gram flour. Also, if you want to feed your fussy kids some spinach, this Palak Pakora recipe is just for you!

Winters or the monsoon season are the best times to enjoy sizzling hot pakoda. Nothing beats the combination of some hot pakora with Masala Chai.

Troubleshooting

Here are some of the things that you should keep in mind while making this easy recipe:

• Batter: The batter of this Palak Pakoda recipe has a medium-thick to medium consistency. Make sure that you do not end up with a thin/runny or thick batter. A thin batter will absorb too much oil and thick batter will make the fritters doughy and dense.
• Water proportion : For the batter, begin by adding ½ cup water and add more, only if required. Some spinach leaves or onions may have a higher water content and the quality, texture of gram flour is also not the same everywhere. So, you need to add water keeping these factors in mind. Here I have made the fritters with a slightly coarser homemade gram flour. So, I have added a bit more water to the batter than what I would have done otherwise. Usually the packaged flour is fine to super fine, so you’ll have to add less water.
• Oil: For deep frying, use any neutral oil that has a high smoke point. 

How to make Palak Pakoda

Prep Spinach

1. Rinse spinach leaves very well in water and finely chop them. Keep aside. You will need 1.5 to 2 cups finely chopped spinach leaves.

Tip: Spinach is listed really high on the Dirty Dozen list. If possible, try to buy organic or grow your own.

Make Spinach, Onion, Spices & Herbs Mixture

2. Add ⅓ cup chopped onions, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1 chopped green chili.

3. Then, add the following ingredients one by one:

• 1 teaspoon fennel powder (saunf powder) or lightly crushed fennel
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, optional
• 1 pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tablespoons white sesame seeds

Make Batter

4. Next, add 1 cup gram flour (besan) and salt as per taste.

Additionally add a generous pinch of baking soda at this step.

5. Mix all the ingredients well and set aside for 5 minutes.

6. Add water in portions little by little. Remember the spinach and onions will release water once they are mixed with salt and the ground spices. So, be careful while adding water.

As I have mentioned in step 5, first mix the ingredients thoroughly and set aside for 5 minutes. Then, add ½ cup water first. If the batter is still thick, add some more water.

I added few tablespoons more water as I used homemade gram flour which is slightly coarse. So add water as needed.

7. Mix very well to a medium-thick or medium consistency batter. But keep in mind that the batter must not be flowing or dripping from the spoon.

Make Palak Pakoda

8. Heat oil in a kadai or pan. When the oil is medium hot, drop spoonfuls of the batter in the oil.

Tip: To check if the oil is ready for frying, add 1 to 2 small spoons of batter in it. If the batter sizzles and comes up on the surface quickly and gradually, oil is hot enough to begin frying.

9. Fry pakoda until pale golden. Then, gently turn over with a slotted spoon and fry the other side.

10. Turn over a couple of times and fry all the pakoda until they turn crispy and golden.

Tip: Depending on the size of the pan or kadai, you can vary the number of pakoda while frying. But do not add too much or overcrowd the pan.

11. Remove the fried spinach pakora with a slotted spoon. Place them on a kitchen paper towel to remove extra oil.

Use up the entire batter this way, by frying pakoda in batches.

You will find that as you use the leftover batter to fry, the consistency gradually thins. This occurs because the spinach leaves continue to release water as the batter rests.

Serving Suggestions

Opt to sprinkle some chaat masala on the spinach pakoda while serving with your favorite sides.

1. Herbs Chutney: Serve Palak Pakoda hot or warm with a side dip of spicy Coriander Chutney or Mint Chutney.
2. Dipping Sauces: These spinach fritters also pair beautifully with Sweet Tamarind Chutney or ketchup. Tasty spicy dipping sauces like schezwan sauce and red chilli sauce also taste good with palak pakora.
3. Raita: A unique side that goes really well with palak pakora is raita. A simple plain raita made with fewer spices & seasonings – roasted cumin powder, red chilli powder, salt and cilantro or mint. I don’t know about you, but this is one of my favorite sides for palak pakora.
4. Bread: Indian breads like roti or even a whole wheat loaf or dinner rolls taste delish. Serve with masala or ginger chai.

If you like to make pakora with seasonal greens, have a look at these lesser known recipes listed below:

• Methi Pakoda (made with fresh fenugreek leaves)
• the rare Arbi ke Patte ke Pakode (made with taro root leaves)
• and a regional delicacy from the Gujarati cuisine, Methi na Gota (made with banana & fenugreek).

Expert Tips

1. Spinach: Both fresh and frozen spinach can be used in the recipe. Baby spinach also tastes good. Thaw the frozen spinach before making the batter.
2. Thawing frozen spinach: Frozen spinach may become watery after it gets thawed. So to avoid this, after thawing, either squeeze the spinach in a tea towel or press it through a strainer to remove the extra water. Then, proceed with the recipe.
3. Without onions: If you do not eat onion, simply skip adding it.
4. Spices & herbs: Spinach has metallic flavors. So, to balance it, the batter has to have a perfect seasoning from the spices and herbs. My recipe offers just this. Though this recipe won’t give you a spicy pakoda, if you prefer, you can increase the quantity of green chilies and red chili powder.
5. Leavening ingredient: For a fluffier texture, add 1 generous pinch of baking soda or ¼ teaspoon of baking powder to the batter. But if you prefer to avoid these, then feel free to do so.
6. Baking & air frying: For health reasons, you can definitely bake these Spinach Fritters. Preheat oven or air-fryer for 10 minutes. Then, bake or air fry at 180 degrees C (356 degrees F). Either you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in the batter or when the pakoda is half-baked, brush them lightly with oil.

FAQs

Palak Pakoda recipe from the archives was first published on May 2012.