Paneer Pakora Recipe

Paneer Pakora is a deep fried snack of soft paneer cubes coated with a spiced, savory gram flour batter and fried until crispy and golden. It is also a popular snack that is made with Paneer. With a lovely crispy outer texture and tender paneer within, this yum North Indian style Paneer Pakoda recipe comes together under 30 minutes and is sure to become your favorite.

About Paneer Pakora

‘Paneer’ is the protein-packed ‘Indian cottage cheese’ and ‘pakora or pakoda’ is the Hindi term for ‘fried fritters.’ Since, in this recipe, the star ingredient is paneer, it is rightly named as Paneer Pakora or Paneer Pakoda.

Like I said, Indian cuisine has a variety of pakoras made with different vegetables or with paneer or cheese. In Indian cooking, the flour that we always include to make fritters or pakodas is gram flour. The same goes for this Paneer Pakora too.

Skinned small black chickpeas are ground finely or coarsely to make gram flour, which is also known as besan in Hindi.

It makes for an essential ingredient, not just for the batter of almost every pakoda but also used to make other dishes like Kadhi, some sweets like Besan Ladoo, Besan Burfi, etc.

Paneer is fresh, non-melting Indian cottage cheese made by curdling milk with a food acid. Paneer is also a firm cheese and can easily be cut or sliced in various shapes.

The texture of paneer is totally different from the American cottage cheese. Thus, it is also easily used to make the Paneer Pakoda as it holds its shape while getting deep-fried in hot oil.

Paneer Pakora is also a popular pakora variant that you will find in many Indian restaurants or street side stalls or eateries. Especially, in the northern parts of India. There are a number of variations to the recipe too.

About My Recipe

As I have mentioned above, to make this snack paneer cubes or squares are coated with the spiced gram flour batter and deep fried.

After deep frying them golden and crisp, the outer crust has a nice flavorful crispy texture of the gram flour batter with a tender and soft paneer inside. These delish pakoras are best served with Coriander Chutney or even Tamarind Chutney.

In the gram flour batter, I add carom seeds (ajwain) and asafoetida, both of which helps in digestion. I also add some more ground spices. The addition of carom seeds give the batter a lovely thyme like aroma and flavor.

I also use mustard oil for deep frying and I like the pungent flavor it imparts to the pakoda. If you are not a fan or do not prefer mustard oil, feel free to use your preferred oil for deep frying.

These two ingredients – carom seeds and mustard oil, greatly enhance the flavor and taste of the pakoda, making a remarkable difference and setting this recipe apart from the others.

Don’t worry, if you do not have mustard oil, but be sure to include the carom seeds in the batter for the best flavor.

Pakora or pakoda are a favorite snack for most Indians. Best enjoyed during monsoons or the rainy season, there is also a myriad of pakoras that are made in Indian cuisine. Many of these, with regional variations too.

In our home, we have a ritual to make assorted pakoras with paneer as well as different veggies.

Mostly potato, cauliflower, onion, spinach and Paneer Pakoda are on this list. We usually make these for dinner and serve with Roti and Mint Chutney.

How To Make Truly Crispy Pakora

Generally, when I make this Paneer Pakoda or any other pakora, I fry them once. But at my in-law’s place, they use a unique frying technique of frying the pakoras twice.

The pakora are half-fried or until pale golden and placed on kitchen paper towels. When the half-fried pakoras become warm or cool, they are pressed lightly between the palms or with a bowl. Then, fried again for the second time until super crisp and perfectly golden.

I usually don’t implement this method because it is time consuming and makes the pakoras more calorie-laden. But you can give it a try, as double frying does really make the pakodas very crispy.

Which Oil To Use For Frying

At home, we usually fry any pakora in mustard oil. Frying in mustard oil gives a very good taste and flavor. Mustard oil has a high smoking point which makes it good for deep frying.

If you do not prefer the flavor of mustard oil, then use any oil with a high smoking point. Peanut, sunflower, safflower and avocado oil are some good options.

How to make Paneer Pakora

Preparation

1. Measure and keep aside all the ingredients for making Paneer Pakoda.

2. Slice 125 to 150 grams paneer (Indian cottage cheese) into cubes or squares.

For best results, use homemade paneer.

Make Batter

3. In a mixing bowl or vessel, take 1 cup besan (gram flour).

4. Now, add the following spices:

• 1 pinch turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
• 1 to 2 pinches of garam masala powder
• 1 pinch asafetida (hing)
• salt as required

5. Mix with a wired whisk or spoon.

6. Pour ⅔ to ¾ cup water in parts.

Tip: Depending on the quality of besan, the water proportion will vary. You need to get a medium consistency flowing batter. So, keeping this consistency in mind, add water bit-by-bit and mix until you get a perfectly medium consistency flowing batter.

7. Use a wired whisk to mix the batter. Make a medium consistency flowing, smooth batter without any lumps.

The batter can be medium-thick but do not make it thin and runny.

Make Paneer Pakora

9. Heat mustard oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan.

Tip: Don’t worry, if you do not have mustard oil. Simply fry pakoda in sunflower oil, peanut oil or any other neutral oil with a high smoke point.

8. Dip the paneer cubes into the batter. Coat them evenly with the batter.

10. When the oil becomes medium hot, gently and carefully add the batter-coated paneer cubes in it. Keep the heat to medium or medium-high.

Tip: To check if the oil is medium-hot, add a few drops of batter to the hot oil. If it comes up on the surface quickly and gradually, the oil is ready for frying pakoras.

11. When one side is light golden, gently turn over the pakodas with a slotted spoon and continue to fry the second side.

12. Flip a couple of times for even frying. When the pakora looks crisp and golden, remove it with a slotted spoon, draining the excess oil.

Place the fried Paneer Pakoda on kitchen paper towels, for the extra oil to be soaked. Similarly batter coat the paneer cubes and fry in batches.

14. Serve Paneer Pakora hot, as it tastes best when consumed hot.

Serving Suggestions

Below are the few ways you can serve and savor the scrumptious Paneer Pakora at home:

• With chutneys and condiments: Serve Paneer Pakoda sprinkled with some chaat masala powder. Do not skip as it brings a lot of flavor. If you do not have chaat masala, then sprinkle with a mix of roasted cumin powder, black salt and dried mango powder (amchur powder). Pair with a dipping sauce like tomato ketchup, mint chutney or coriander chutney.
• With evening chai (tea) or coffee: Paneer Pakora can be had as a snack with a cup of Masala Chai or Coffee.
• With Indian flat bread, roti, phulka or chapati: If you are really fond of pakoras, then you can make the Paneer Pakoda and have it with roti, chapati, phulka, like we do. They also taste good with bread.

Variations

As I said earlier, there are many ways that you can experiment with the basic recipe of Paneer Pakora and make new variations. Some of these are:

• Stuffed Paneer Pakoda: In the stuffed version, the paneer slices are sandwiched between coriander chutney, tamarind chutney or red chili garlic chutney, batter-coated and then deep-fried. Obviously with the zesty chutneys on the paneer, this variant tastes better than the plain version.
• Spicy Stuffed Paneer Pakora: A simple variation for a spicy stuffing is to place some finely chopped green chilies, ginger and coriander leaves sprinkled with a bit of salt in an almost sliced paneer. Meaning the paneer is not cut completely. Then, batter-coat and deep-fry.

Expert Tips

1. Paneer: The best results can be achieved obviously with homemade Paneer. If using frozen paneer, follow directions on the pack before proceeding with the recipe.
2. Slicing paneer: You can make decorative shapes from a paneer block, if you plan to make a large batch for a party. The shapes can be round, square, triangle or rectangle. I usually prefer to slice paneer in a square or rectangular shape.
3. Spice levels: The spicing in my recipe is minimal. So, there is a balance in the taste and the pakora is not overly spicy. If you prefer, adjust the ground spices according to your likings. In fact, a pakoda is never spicy. The coriander chutney that is served with it can be spicy.
4. Batter consistency: The batter should have a medium-thick to medium and flowing consistency, not thin or runny. A thin batter will absorb more oil, making the pakora loaded with oil and soggy.
5. Leavening ingredient: I have not included baking soda or baking powder in this recipe. You can add, for fluffier and crispier pakora. About 1 pinch baking soda or ¼ teaspoon baking powder will give you the best results.
6. Baking and air frying: I’ve not had great results with baking or air-frying pakoras. But you can try. Bake or air fry at a moderately hot temperature of 180 degrees C (356 degrees F). Preheat oven or air-fryer for 10 minutes.

FAQs

Paneer Pakora recipe from the archives was first published on October 2013.