Palak Pakoda Recipe (North Indian Style)

palak pakoda served in a white plate bowl with a side small bowl of ketchup on right side.

4.55 from 11 votes

Palak Pakoda Recipe (North Indian Style)

Palak Pakoda (also called Palak Pakora) is a quick savory Indian snack of deep-fried spinach fritters made with fresh spinach leaves (palak), gram flour (besan), onion, herbs and spices. This Palak Pakoda recipe is one of our favorite pakoda variants from the North Indian cuisine. Serve these scrumptious fritters with your preferred chutney or ketchup.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Snacks

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegan

Difficulty Level: Easy

Servings:

Calories: 177kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

1 cup (100 grams) gram flour (besan)
2 cups spinach - finely chopped
⅓ cup onion - chopped
1 teaspoon ginger - chopped
½ teaspoon green chili - chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seed powder or lightly crushed fennel seeds (saunf powder)
¼ to ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder or cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
1 teaspoon Cumin Powder (ground cumin)
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder - optional
1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds - optional
1 generous pinch baking soda
salt as required
½ cup water or add as required - * read points 2 & 3 in notes below
oil - for deep frying, add as required

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making batter

Rinse the palak or spinach leaves very well. Drain the excess water in a colander or strainer. Finely chop the spinach leaves.
Chop the onions, ginger and green chillies.
In a bowl add the finely chopped spinach, chopped onions, ginger and green chili.
Add the ground spice powders - fennel seeds powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, asafoetida (hing).
Add the sesame seeds as well.
Next add gram flour and salt according to taste. Add a generous pinch of baking soda at this step.
Mix all the ingredients very well and set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
First add ½ cup of water little by little.
Remember the spinach and onions will leave water once they are mixed with salt and the spice powders. So be careful while adding water.
If the batter is still thick, then add some more water.
Mix very well. Add water as required to make a medium-thick to medium consistency batter. Make sure that the batter does not flow or drip from the spoon.

Frying

Heat oil in a kadai (wok) or frying pan. When the oil is medium hot, drop spoonfuls of the pakora batter in the oil.
Fry the pakora until they become pale golden. Then turn over and fry the other side.
Turn over a couple of times and fry all the fritters until they are crispy and golden.
Remove them with a slotted spoon. Drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove extra oil.
Fry the spinach pakora in batches this way and use up the entire batter.

Serving suggestions

Chutney: A coriander chutney or mint chutney or tamarind chutney and even coconut chutney pairs well with palak pakoda.
Dipping sauces: Tasty dipping sauces like schezwan sauce, red chilli sauce and tomato ketchup also taste equally good.
Raita: A simple plain raita made with minimal seasonings – roasted cumin powder, red chilli powder, salt and cilantro or mint will also pair nicely.
Bread: Indian breads like roti or leavened whole grain loaf or dinner rolls taste good. Serve with masala or ginger chai.

Notes

Spices & herbs: Spinach has metallic flavors. To balance these flavors, the batter need to have a perfect seasoning from the spices and herbs. My recipe won't give you a spicy pakoda, but as you prefer you can increase the amount of green chillies and red chilli powder.
Batter: The spinach pakora batter consistency is medium. Do not make a thin or runny or a thick batter. A thin batter will absorb too much oil and thick batter will make the fritters doughy. If the batter becomes thin, add a few tablespoons of gram flour. If the batter is very thick, add a bit of water.
* Water proportion: Begin with adding ½ cup water and add more only if needed. Some spinach leaves or onions may have a high water content and the quality of the gram flour is also not the same everywhere. So water has to be added keeping these factors in mind. I have here used gram flour which was ground at home. The packaged flour is fine or super fine. The homemade flour was little coarse. So obviously I add a bit more water to the batter than what I would have added otherwise.
No onion variation: For folks who do not eat onions, just skip onions in the pakora. It will still taste delicious.
Spinach: Both fresh and frozen spinach can be included. Baby spinach also tastes nice.
Frozen spinach: Frozen spinach can become watery when it thaws. To avoid this, after thawing the spinach, either squeeze it in a tea towel or press it through a strainer to remove extra water. Then proceed with the pakoda recipe.
Oil: For deep frying use any neutral oil that has a high smoke point.
Baking & air frying: For health reasons, you can bake these palak fritters. Preheat your oven or air-fryer for 10 minutes. Then bake or air fry at 180 degrees celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit). Either you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in the batter or when the pakora is half-baked, brush them lightly with oil.
Leavening agents: To get a fluffier texture, add 1 generous pinch of baking soda or ¼ teaspoon of baking powder. You could even skip these but know that the texture will not be fluffy.

Nutrition