Chinese pakoda are crisp and spiced fried vegetable fritters. Chinese pakora is one of the inventions from Mumbai city and is popular there.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks, Starters
  • Cuisine: Indian Street Food, Mumbai Street Food

Ingredients

  • 1 cup tightly packed finely chopped cabbage (or 160 grams cabbage)
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped onions (or spring onions)
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped capsicum
  • ¼ cup finely chopped carrots
  • ½ tablespoon Schezwan Sauce (or sriracha sauce)
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • salt (as required)
  • ½ cup besan ((gram flour))
  • ¼ cup maida ((all purpose flour))
  • 2 tablespoons corn flour ((corn starch))
  • oil as required (for deep frying)
  • shredded cabbage (or chopped coriander leaves or spring onion greens as garnish)

Method

making chinese pakoda mixture

  1. Rinse, peel and then finely chop the veggies. You will need 1 cup tightly packed finely chopped cabbage, ⅓ cup finely chopped onions, ⅓ cup finely chopped capsicum, ¼ cup finely chopped carrots.
  2. Take the chopped veggies in a mixing bowl.
  3. Add schezwan sauce or sriracha sauce, finely chopped ginger, kashmiri red chilli powder and black pepper powder. Also add salt as required.
  4. Next add besan, maida (all purpose flour) and corn flour (corn starch).
  5. Mix very well without adding any water. The juices from the veggies will be enough to bind the pakoda mixture. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.
  6. After 30 minutes the pakoda mixture will become slightly more moist.

frying chinese pakoda

  1. Heat oil in a kadai or pan.
  2. Add a tiny portion of the pakoda batter and if it rises up steadily and gradually, the oil is hot enough.
  3. Now with the help of your fingers or spoon, take small portions of the batter and gently drop them in the hot oil.
  4. Add the number of pakodas as per the size of the kadai or pan. Do not overcrowd.
  5. Fry the pakodas on medium flame.
  6. When one side is lightly crisp and faint golden, turn over the pakoda.
  7. Fry the second side till crisp and golden. Turn over a couple of times for even frying.
  8. Fry the chinese pakoda till crisp and golden.
  9. Remove with a slotted spoon. drain the fried chinese pakoda on kitchen paper towels. Continue to fry the remaining batches of pakodas this way.
  10. Serve chinese pakoda hot or warm. While serving garnish with some shredded cabbage or chopped coriander leaves or spring onion greens. Accompany schezwan sauce, chili sauce (sweet or spicy) or tomato ketchup with chinese pakora.

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.