These vegetable pakoras are irresistibly crunchy and so flavorful, with the perfect ratio of veggies to chickpea batter. In this post I'll share with you all my secrets for making the best ever vegetable pakoras - even better than any you've eaten at a restaurant.
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Crunchy Indian vegetable fritters
In my home, a rainy day is a great excuse to fry up crunchy vegetable pakoras. We love to gather around the table with friends and family to enjoy them with cups of hot masala chai and plenty of conversation.
In India vegetable pakoras are the quintessential celebratory food, often served at birthdays, weddings and festivals. They are irresistible: chatpata (spicy, salty, zesty all at once) with a crisp-gold coating that crunches fiercely when you bite into one. Knowing most of the ingredients in a pakora are great for you even dulls the guilt of eating this deep-fried food.
Making vegetable pakoras is quite simple: you dunk vegetables into a spiced chickpea batter and deep-fry them. But every cook has their own little secrets to make their pakoras distinctive and today I'm going to share mine with you:
- Cut the vegetables thin. Shredded vegetables will hold on to more batter, which equals more crispy pakoras.
- Add some rice flour to the batter. Rice flour helps pakoras crisp up even more.
- Make the pakora batter more dough-like than batter-like. After you add vegetables and mix them into the chickpea flour, you shouldn't have any visible liquid in the bowl. This will also help the pakoras get more crispy.
- Fry at the correct temperature. Pakoras will fry to the perfect texture at 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius. They also won't absorb too much oil. Use a candy thermometer if you have one to check the temperature of the oil and try and maintain it at that point by lowering or increasing heat.
This vegetable pakora recipe makes about 24 pakoras so it's perfect to feed a sizeable crowd. Or save leftovers (if you have any, I never do) and reheat for a much-anticipated snack for another time!
Recipe card
Vegetable pakora recipe
Ingredients
For batter
- 1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
- 4 tablespoons rice flour (rice flour makes the pakoras more crispy. You can skip and use more chickpea flour instead)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne (or any moderately spicy red chilli powder. Use less if you can't tolerate heat.)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds)
- 1 tablespoon kasoori methi
- Salt to taste
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Vegetables
- 1 medium potato (use a waxy red or yellow potato. Cut into thin, inch-long strips.)
- 1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
- 1½ cups cabbage (thinly sliced)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (finely chopped, optional. You can also use curry leaves)
For deep frying
- ¼ cups vegetable oil (for deep frying. See FAQs above on which oils are best for deep-frying pakoras.)
Instructions
- Place all the batter ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to mix. Add a tablespoon of oil to the flour and mix it in.
- Add a tablespoon of oil to the mixture and rub it into the flour mixture. This will help make pakora crispier. The flour should look a bit grainy at this point.
- Add the chopped vegetables and cilantro to the bowl and mix them with your hand until all the vegetables are coated with the flour. Set aside for five minutes so the vegetables express their moisture.
- After the vegetables have rested for five minutes, start adding water to the bowl a tablespoon at a time. Mix after each addition. Add just enough water so there is no dry flour in the bowl and all the vegetables are evenly coated in the batter. I needed ⅓rd of a cup of water but you might need a little more or less.
- Heat two inches of oil in a wok or skillet. When hot drop lumps of the pakora batter into the oil. The oil should bubble furiously as soon as the pakora makes contact with it. If it doesn't allow it to heat a bit more. If you have a candy thermometer, it should register 350 degrees F/180 degrees C before you start frying the pakora.
- Fry the pakoras until they are golden-brown, flipping them over a couple of times.
- Remove the pakoras with a spider to a colander lined with paper towels. Don't brown the pakoras too much as they will continue to darken after they come out of the pan. Serve the pakoras hot.
Notes
- Spices: If you don't have all the spices, leave some out. You can make the pakoras without the ground coriander, ajwain (carom seeds) and kasoori methi.
- Salt: Pakoras always taste a little less salty after frying because the vegetables absorb some of the seasoning as they fry. Taste a pakora after frying the first batch and add more salt to the rest of the batter if it doesn't taste like it has enough salt.
- Don't overcrowd the wok or skillet when deep-frying. Each pakora you add brings down the temperature of the oil, so don't fry too many at a time. I did three batches in my standard-sized wok.
- If the pakoras clump together in the wok don't worry - you can separate them after they have finished frying.
- Nutrition information assumes ¼ cup oil absorbed by the pakoras during deep frying - just under ½ teaspoon per pakora.
Nutrition Information
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Vegetable pakora FAQs
You can use most vegetables for pakora, including carrots, potatoes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, leafy greens (check out my Swiss chard pakoras) and asparagus (asparagus pakoras). I even make pakoras with zucchini blossoms. Stay away from mushrooms and root vegetables like beets and turnips.
In India peanut oil, which has a high smoke point, is used for deep frying and it works nicely for making veg pakora. You can also use any neutral oil with a high smoke point, including avocado oil, canola oil and sunflower oil.
Pakoras are wonderful with mint chutney or coconut chutney. At a pinch serve them with hot sauce; kids love them with ketchup.
Ideally eat pakoras soon after making them because that is when they taste best and have the crispiest texture. If you have leftover pakoras, store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days. Warm them in an oven or toaster oven or air fryer for a few minutes until crispy again.
Published Jan. 21, 2022. Updated and republished on April 8, 2025.
Rohini says
These are simply divine. 😍
Vaishali says
Awesome!
Marsha says
Hi, I made these pakoras exactly per your instructions and they came out awesome. My family finished these in under 10 minutes, I barely got to taste one! 🙂
Vaishali says
Yay, so happy you made them!!
Melissa K. says
Hi, this is Melissa, I follow you regularly! Have you ever tried making pakoras (and/or samosas) in the air fryer? Or is the batter too thin?
Thank you!
Vaishali says
Hi Melissa, you'd definitely need a thicker batter to air-fry. Add a cup of water instead of a cup and a half and give it a try!