Onion Pakoda also called Onion Pakora is a deep fried snack made with plenty of thinly sliced onions, gram flour (besan), carom seeds and a few spices. This recipe is a classic North Indian version which is flavorful, tasty, crispy and tastes best with a side of coriander chutney, mint chutney or ketchup.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 onions (- medium to large-sized)
  • 1 cup gram flour ((besan) or substitute with chickpea flour)
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons green chillies (- chopped (or add instead ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper))
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (- chopped (cilantro), optional)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala (- optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric), optional)
  • 1 teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain))
  • 1 generous pinch asafoetida ((hing) - optional or use gluten-free asafoetida)
  • 1 pinch baking soda (- optional)
  • water (as needed to make a medium-thick batter)
  • salt (as required)
  • oil (as required - for shallow frying or deep frying. sunflower oil or any neutral flavored oil)

Method

Marinating Onion Slices

  1. Slice the onions thinly and take them in a mixing bowl. Also, add chopped green chillies.
  2. If you do not have green chillies, then add red chilli powder. You can also add chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves if you prefer.
  3. Add the spices - carom seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt.
  4. Mix and marinate everything well. Cover and keep the onion, chillies and spice mixture aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, the onions would release water after resting the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes.

Making pakora batter

  1. Next add gram flour (besan). If you plan to add baking soda, then add at this step.
  2. Add the required amount of water to make a medium-thick batter. Ensure not to make a very thick batter or a thin runny batter.
  3. Stir the whole mixture very well with a spoon or with your hands. The batter is ready to be fried. Make sure there are no lumps of flour in the batter.

Making onion pakoda

  1. Heat oil for deep frying or shallow frying in a wok (kadai) or pan. Let the oil become moderately hot.
  2. In hot oil, then add spoonfuls of the batter.
  3. Depending on the size of the wok or pan, you can add less or more. Just make sure you don't over crowd the pan while frying.
  4. When the pakora are cooked and the batter has firmed up or has become light golden, turn over with a slotted spoon and continue to fry.
  5. You will have to turn them a few times for even frying.
  6. Fry them until they look crisp and golden.
  7. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper towels for excess oil to be absorbed.
  8. In the same oil fry slit green chilies.
  9. Sprinkle some salt on the green chilies and mix well.
  10. Serve Onion Pakoda with the fried green chilies or coriander 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.