Paneer Pakora are Indian cottage cheese fritters. These popular fritters from the North Indian cuisine are made with a savory, spiced carom seeds laced gram flour batter which coats the tender paneer cubes. On deep frying a crispy texture from outside encases a soft, moist paneer from within. Paneer Pakoda makes for quick evening snack when served with a side of coriander chutney or ketchup.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 125 to 150 grams paneer ((Indian cottage cheese))
  • 1 cup or (100 grams) gram flour ((besan))
  • 1 pinch turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne pepper, add as required)
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 1 to 2 pinches garam masala (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain))
  • ⅔ to ¾ cup water (or add as required)
  • salt (as required)
  • mustard oil (- for deep frying, as required, * check point no 7 in the notes)
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala (- for sprinkling on pakora)

Method

Preparation

  1. Slice paneer into cubes or squares
  2. Add gram flour into a mixing bowl.
  3. Next add turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, asafoetida, carom seeds and salt. Mix well.
  4. Pour ⅔ to ¾ cup water in parts and mix well.
  5. Use a wired whisk to mix the batter. Make a medium-thick to medium consistency, flowing and smooth batter without any lumps.
  6. Depending on the quality of gram flour, the water proportion will vary. You need to get a medium-thick to medium consistency flowing batter. Thus add water bit by bit and mix until you get a perfect consistency.

Making Paneer Pakora

  1. Heat mustard oil or your preferred oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Keep the heat to medium or medium-high heat.
  2. To check if the oil is medium-hot, add a few drops of batter to it. If the batter droplets comes up on the surface quickly and gradually, the oil is ready for frying pakora.
  3. When the oil becomes medium-hot, add the batter coated paneer cubes carefully in the medium-hot oil.
  4. When one side is lightly golden, gently turn over the pakora with a slotted spoon. Continue to fry the paneer pakora until golden and crisp.
  5. Remove the paneer pakora with a slotted spoon. Place them on paper towels to remove excess oil.Fry the remaining batches of pakoda in the same way.
  6. Serve Paneer Pakora hot or warm, sprinkled with some chaat masala and paired with 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.