Vegetable Pakoras – Super crispy GF fritters that disappear in minutes!
on Oct 12, 2018, Updated Aug 24, 2020
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It is the season for vegetable pakoras, spicy green chutney and masala chai. And I’m bringing you a recipe that has been tailored specifically for maximum crunch factor. These have a secret ingredient that makes every bite super crunchy and extra crispy.
Do you remember the extra tasty green chutney I shared with you last week? A green chutney is never complete till its prepared with vegetable pakoras!
Like the chutney, these are not your regular pakoras either. They have ingredients that you won’t see normally in pakoras – like cabbage and rice flour. No, don’t turn up your nose at these till you have tasted them. Because these pakoras are incredibly crispy and extra crunchy. And that cabbage works like magic to make them that! I come from a family that probably has pakoras for Sunday breakfast every second week so trust me when I say that we are experts. Which is why these were experimented with over and over again till they were certified ‘extra crunchy’.
Some of might call them bhajiyas or bhajjis which is another name for fritters where everything is chopped up and mixed together. I don’t think the name matters as much, because they are all variations of the same thing. Whatever you like to call them, I bet you are going to be blown away by these.
The day we made these, we also made the best jalebis in the world and I’m going to share that recipe with you next week – so stay tuned!
You need to know a few things about making pakoras.
Pakora Batter
We use gram flour and rice flour to make this pakora batter. The combination of these gluten free flours adds lightness and crispness to these fritters. They don’t soak up as much oil, and they have their own flavors which makes bhajjis even better!
Top tips for extra crunchy vegetable pakoras
My top tips for making super crisp vegetables pakoras are: 1. chop vegetables into small pieces and if you are slicing them, then slice them thinly 2. don’t add too much water to your batter because as the vegetables sit in the batter, they’ll leave some water too 3. always fry pakoras on medium flame to allow vegetables like potatoes to cook well, and the outside to get crisp.
We’ve made these pakoras by using a combination of chopped and shredded vegetables, but if you like you can use the same batter to make single vegetable pakoras too – like aloo pakora (with potatoes), onion pakoras, bread pakoras (for bread pakoras, make the batter a thinner consistency), tomato pakoras (these leave a lot of water while frying so be careful of the splatter), cauliflower pakoras etc. There is really no limit!
More Crispy Veg Snacks:
- Paneer Pakora
- Crispy Baked Onion Pakodas
- Spiced Indian Banana Fritters
- Crispy Veg Nuggets with Sichuan Sauce
- Mexican Corn Fritters
Watch Vegetable Pakora + Green Chutney Recipe Video
Vegetable Pakoras
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup Besan, Gram flour
- 3 tablespoon Rice Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Chilli Powder, or Paprika
- Hing / Asafoetida, a pinch
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup Cabbage, sliced into thin long strips
- 1/2 cup Potatoes, finely chopped
- 1/2 Onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh Coriander, chopped
- 2 teaspoon Green Chillies, finely chopped
- 3/4 to 1 cup Water
- Oil for deep frying
- Coriander Chutney to serve
Instructions
- Mix together besan (gram flour), rice flour, chilli powder, asafoetida and salt in a bowl.
- Add cabbage, potatoes, onions, green chilies and coriander and mix the vegetables with the flour mixture. Slowly start adding water to make a semi solid batter. Remember that as the batter sits, the veggies will release more water, so it’s important to add just enough water till you don’t have any dry lumpy flour.
- Heat oil in a pot or kadhai. Scatter small portions of the batter (about 1 tablespoon) in to the oil (watch video above). Fry the pakoras in hot oil, on medium flame for about 3 minutes. Then reduce the heat to low to let the potatoes cook properly.
- Fry them till they are crisp and golden brown. Take them out with a slotted spoon and drain them on kitchen paper. Serve them hot with green chutney.
Video
Notes
- You can use other vegetables like cauliflower florets, spinach, brinjal, methi or fenugreek leaves etc. also to make pakoras
- You can omit rice flour if it is not easily available and just use gram flour for making pakoras. But we highly recommend using rice flour because it makes these pakoras extra crispy
- Cottage cheese or Paneer Pakoras are another variation of these thats super tasty.
- Pakoras don’t do well with storing. Fry them and serve them immediately
Any ideas on how I can bake them instead of deep frying.😘
Baking won’t work in this case unfortunately
Thanks for the rice flour tip!
You are welcome – it really changes how crispy these pakoras get!
Pin it!! I’m always in love with these kind of crispy! Now I have something new to try out for weekend xD
– Natalie
your blog presentation is very pretty and all the recipes are looking so delicious. i am also owner of a food blog learn easy cooking recipes.
Great tip and these does look so crispy! Perfect for the season as it started to get little cold now.
Thank you!