Onion pakoda recipe – pakoda or pakora are deep fried snack that are made with gram flour, salt, light spices and a main ingredient like onion or a vegetable. These are very commonly prepared in most Indian homes and is a popular snack & street food too.
Pakoda are easy to prepare when you have a sudden guest or friend at home and you want to make them feel special. These make a good tea time snack especially during the cold winters.
I am sharing the perfect crispy onion pakoda recipe that will surely rob your heart. These do not absorb or soak up much oil when made following this recipe. I have mentioned corn flour, semolina or rice flour as optional ingredient.
If you want the extra crunchy onion pakoda that can last for a little longer try with one of these flours. Try using fresh flours, do not use stale besan that is smelly or bitter in taste.
Onion pakoda can also be prepared with corn flour or wheat flour or a mixture of both and the results vary from what is seen in the pictures. But they are a good option to those who would like to avoid gram flour (besan).
More Pakora recipes,
Vegetable pakora
Cauliflower pakora
Mirchi bajji or mirchi pakora
Chicken pakora
Prawn pakora
Crispy onion pakoda recipe
Onion pakoda recipe | How to make onion pakoda | Pakoda recipe
Pakoda or pakora are a kind of fritters made with gram flour and basic herbs and spices. Onion pakoda or onion pakora is one of the most made pakoda varieties for a tea time snack.
Ingredients (240 ml cup used)
Ingredients to make onion pakoda recipe
- 2 cups onions thinly sliced , layers separated
- 1 ¼ cup besan (or gram flour made from chana dal)
- 1 tbsp corn flour or semolina or rice flour (optional)
- Salt as needed
- ½ tsp. ginger finely chopped (optional)
- ¼ to ½ tsp. carom seeds (ajwain or vaamu )
- 2 to 3 green chilies chopped(adjust to suit your taste)
- 1 sprig curry leaves chopped
- 8 to 10 mint leaves chopped (optional)
- Oil for deep frying
How to make the recipe
Preparation for onion pakoda
- Wash and peel onions. Wash under running water. Slice them thinly and separate the layers. Measure 2 cups and add them to a mixing bowl.
- Chop chilies, curry leaves and mint leaves, add them to the mixing bowl of onions.
- Sprinkle salt evenly. Nicely squeeze the onions with your palms few times without mushing them up. Leave it aside for 5 minutes.
- The onions release moisture, sprinkle flour, ajwain and more salt if needed.
- Mix everything well to coat the onions with the flour.
- Add water 2 tbsps each time and mix the flour to make a moist mass of dough. The dough must be tight and not soggy like batter else they absorb lot of oil while frying.
How to make onion pakoda
- Heat oil in a kadai or fry pan for deep frying the pakoda.
- Check if the oil is hot enough, drop a tiny piece of dough first, it has to rise and not sink in the oil. When the oil is hot enough, take a small amount of dough and make small pakoda and drop them in the oil. Do not add too many pakodas in the pan, they should have some space to move around. While frying stir occasionally for even frying.
- Fry them till golden and transfer them with a ladle to an absorbent tissue placed in a plate.
- Serve onion pakoda hot with a cup of tea or coffee.
Preparation for onion pakoda or pakora
1. Add sliced onions, minced ginger,chopped green chilies, mint leaves and curry leaves to a bowl. Sprinkle salt evenly.
2. Squeeze the onions a couple of times to begin releasing moisture. Set this aside for 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle evenly flour, vaamu (ajwain) and little more salt.
4. Mix everything well. You get a dry mixture now.
How to make onion pakoda or pakora
5. Sprinkle 2 tbsp water each time and mix the flour to make a moist dough. Do not pour water, just sprinkle to get the dough right. Sprinkle more water as needed. I used little over ¼ cup,but it depends on the amount of moisture your onions release. The mixture must be tight and not soggy or dripping otherwise they soak up lot of oil and will not turn crispy.
6. Heat oil in a pan till hot. Check if it is hot enough by dropping a small quantity of dough in the oil, it must rise and not sink. This is the right time to begin frying. Take small portions and drop them in the oil and fry stirring occasionally for even frying.
7.Fry the onion pakoda till golden and drain them on an absorbent paper.
Serve onion pakoda hot with a cup of tea or coffee.
Shumaila says
Hi, Thank you for the recipe but I followed exactly same steps and my Pakoras came out really hard:( added baking powder, and more water to make them edible. Which brand to you use for chickpea flour please? I use KTC but I don’t know why my Pakoras are nowhere near Crunchy.
swasthi says
Hi Shumaila
You are welcome. Have you used chickpea flour labelled as gram flour made from chana dal? I checked the KTC site but found quite a lot of varieties. I use the flour that comes from India either rajasthani besan or mantra. Some countries also sell chickpea flour made from garbanzo beans which is not suitable for this. In that case you must look for the flour which is labelled as gram flour made from chana dal. Adding more water to the dough will not make them crunchy. There is no need to use baking powder too. I feel it is the flour. Give it another try with different flour. Thanks for trying.
Suji says
I was looking for a quick snack and bumped into this recipe. The pakoda turned out to be super yummy. It just got over in seconds. It didn’t drink a lot of oil too. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
swasthi says
Welcome Suji
Thanks for the comment. Happy to know pakoda turned out good.
🙂
Arati says
Your tip for using thick dough instead of runny batter was very useful. The pakoda didnot absorb any oil, and it was a perfect combination of crispy outside soft inside. Thanks..
Ps: I skipped the curry and mint leaves and used garlic instead.
swasthi says
Welcome Arati,
Thanks for trying.
Archana says
Ur recipes r simply awesome…any recipe I blindly trust n go ahead n u nvr lemme down…thnx a ton
swasthi says
Welcome ARchana
Glad to know the recipes work out well.
Thanks for the comment
🙂
Deep says
I prepared pakoras using your recipe and the result was superb.
Thank you very much for the wonderful recipe. I have tried to make pakoras so many times but this was the first time my husband complimented me for it ?. Also i added potato with onion to add on variety.
swasthi says
Welcome Deep
So happy to know they turned out good. Adding potato sounds good.
Thanks for writing
Neethu says
Superb….
swasthi says
Thanks Neethu
Nahid zaman says
Nice
swasthi says
Thank you