We must admit that part of us wanted to be selfish and keep this recipe all to ourselves. It took us 3 practice batches and many calls to mama Arora to perfect it. After a patient asked us “have you done it” when we suggested she try baking her pakoras instead of deep frying them, we were on a mission to create the best baked pakora we had ever had. This pakora bursts with traditional flavors, doesn’t ooze oil everywhere and won’t leave your stomach feeling bloated, heavy and uncomfortable like traditional fried pakoras. We are so proud to turn this Indian indulgence into a healthy snack and share our new family recipe with you!
Ingredients
- 1 sweet onion (small)
- 1 russet potato
- 2 1/2 cup cauliflower
- 1/3 cup spinach
- 1/3 cup cilantro
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 pods cardamom
- 1 tsp black pepper (heaping)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne (heaping)
- 1/2 tsp mango powder (heaping)
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric (heaping)
- 1 1/3 cup chickpea flower (also called gram flour and besan atta)
- 1 1/2 tbsp rice flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup water
- 1-2 tbsp canola oil
Servings: Servings
Instructions
- Thinly slice onion, peeled potato, cauliflower, spinach and cilantro
- Place sliced onion in large bowl, add salt and mix well with a spatula. Add potato, cauliflower, spinach and cilantro
- Open cardamom pods, discard shell and crush seeds with a mortar and pestle. Add black pepper, cayenne, mango powder, cumin, turmeric and cardamom to bowl and mix
- Slowly add chickpea flower, rice flour and baking soda to bowl. Mixture should appear dry. Slowly add some of the 3/4 cup water, mix well and add remaining water to create a thick batter that lightly coats the vegetables
- Place oven rack in center slot and preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Using your hands and a spoon or spatula, scoop batter onto a well oiled baking sheet into small clusters
- Once pakoras are formed, lightly spray or baste with canola oil and bake 25 minutes
- Increase oven heat to 420 degrees F, flip pakoras, lightly baste or spray with canola oil and bake additional 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crispy
Recipe Notes
Serve with your favorite chutney
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The Baked Pakora
i cannot eat chickpea flower. what do you recommend as a substitute? thank you.
Hello Meg, you could trial a lentil flour instead or possibly buckwehat flour. Gram flour or “besan atta” comes from black skinned chickpeas and is the best type of flour to use as it is a major component of the traditional flavor in a pakora and helps the mixture bind together. I haven’t personally tried another flour, but I’d lean more towards a lentil flour than the buckwheat.
These pakoras are really good! I was actually surprised at how nice and crispy they turned out. I like them even better than the usual fried version. Thanks for the recipe!
Haven’t tried this recipe, but it looks to be doable. Onion Fritters or Pakoras are my favourite with evening tea especially during rainy seasons. However, since my last angina attack and having placed two stents recently I presume my wife isn’t gonna let me have the deep-fried ones. So was looking for something which doesn’t have too much frying oil.
These are the perfect healthy substitute so that you can enjoy the traditional flavors of pakoras while still making a healthful choice! Cravings and nutrition in 1!
These are the best baked pakora I’ve ever made, I have used other recipes but these are much more what I wanted,so crisp and wonderful spices! Thank you for sharing!
Many thanks for trying them out Fawnne!