These crisp cabbage pakoda are fried tasty Indian style fritters made with cabbage, onions, gram flour, herbs and spices. The recipe comes together in 30 minutes and is a an easy snack to make.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup heaped besan ((gram flour) - swap with chickpea flour)
  • ¾ cup finely chopped cabbage (- green or purple)
  • ¼ cup finely chopped onions
  • 1 to 2 green chilies (- chopped)
  • ½ inch ginger (- finely chopped)
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing), optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder ((cayenne pepper) or add as required)
  • 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds (- optional)
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons chopped coriander leaves
  • water (as required to make a medium thick batter)
  • salt (as required)
  • oil (as required for deep frying)

Method

Making batter

  1. First prep your ingredients. Rinse the cabbage, peeled onions, peeled ginger and green chillies. Finely chop them and set aside.
  2. In a mixing bowl, add finely chopped cabbage, onions, green chillies and ginger.
  3. Add besan (gram flour), chopped coriander leaves, turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida (hing), sesame seeds and salt.
  4. Add water in parts to make batter and stir very well. Ensure that there are no lumps in the batter.
  5. The batter should not be thin or runny but of medium-thick consistency. Check the seasoning. If salt or the spiciness is less, add the salt or chili powder according to your taste preferences.

Frying cabbage pakoda

  1. Heat oil in a pan or kadai. Keep the heat to medium. When the oil becomes medium hot, take spoonful of the pakora batter and pour it in the oil.
  2. Add 6 to 8 spoonfuls of the pakora batter in the oil, individually. So you have 6 to 8 pakoras frying at a time.
  3. When one side of the pakora becomes light golden and the batter firms up then gently turn over with a slotted spoon. Now fry the second side until light golden and then turn over again. This fry them until golden and crisp, turning them a couple of times as needed.
  4. The batter as well as the cabbage should also be cooked from inside.
  5. Fry them in batches till they become crisp, golden and cooked from within.
  6. Place the fried pakoda on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
  7. Serve the cabbage pakoda hot or warm with tomato ketchup or mint coriander chutney or tamarind chutney or any chutney or dipping sauce of your choice.
  8. You can also have them with bread or roti or make sandwiches or wraps with them.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.