Crisp at the edges and tender through the middle, Onion Fritters is a gluten-free, vegan South Indian, Tamil Nadu snacks made with simple everyday ingredients in about 40 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Ingredients

  • ½ cup onions (thinly sliced and tightly paced, 100 grams or 2 medium-sized onions)
  • ½ cup gram flour ((besan), 56 grams)
  • ¼ cup Rice Flour (- 30 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (- chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon curry leaves (- chopped, or 7 to 8 curry leaves)
  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 pinch turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne pepper)
  • 1 or 2 green chilies (chopped or ½ to 1 teaspoon)
  • 5 tablespoon water (or add as required)
  • salt (as per taste)
  • oil (- for deep frying (can use peanut oil or sunflower oil or canola oil))

Method

Making Batter

  1. Take the gram flour and rice flour in a mixing bowl.
  2. Add sliced onions, spices, herbs and salt, except oil.
  3. Then sprinkle 3 tablespoons of water all over.
  4. Mix thoroughly. Cover the mixture and set aside to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. The onions will release their juices and the batter will become more moist after the resting time is complete. Next add 1 to 2 tablespoon more water and mix well again. I have added 2 tablespoons water.
  6. I usually keep the batter more moist than what is the norm for this recipe. As I feel some moisture helps in making these fritters not too chewy or dense. Keep in mind that the batter has to be of a thick dropping consistency.

Making Onion Fritters

  1. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. When the oil becomes medium hot, drop spoonfuls of batter in the kadai.
  2. Flip each onion fritter when they become pale golden.
  3. Continue to fry till the onion fritters are golden and crisp, turning over them as required.
  4. Once they are fried to perfection, then remove them with a slotted spoon.
  5. Keep fritters on kitchen paper towels so that extra oil is absorbed. Fry in batches this way.
  6. Serve these crisp onion fritters hot with tomato chutney, coconut chutney, mint chutney or tomato ketchup.

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.