These Crispy and irresistible Air fried Pakora, flavored with green chilies and Indian spices and made using minimal oil are a gentle twist to the classical deep fried pakora.
Monsoon season is much awaited one for Indians. For any Indian, having pakora with tea while it's drizzling is an amazing treat. That's the best family time for us as we build memories together.
While I love deep-fried pakora or fritters, I wish to create a version of the pakoras with less oil. Using an air fryer for cooking the pakoras made it super helpful. With a similar crispy and browned crust and a soft tender inner as that of deep-fried fritters, these onion and potato pakoras are so quick to gather.
Bursting with the rich flavors of besan (gram flour), green chilies, raw mango powder, these air fryer pakoras of onion and potato are sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Dunk these fritters in green coriander chutney for a spicy savory snack! If you love to have deep-fried fritters, check my post on classical onion pakoras.
Find More Air Fryer Recipes: Air fryer Cucumber chips, Air fryer beet chips, Air fryer Broccoli Cauliflower.
More Appetizers: Potato Pancakes Latkes, Potato Sandwich, Rice Fritters, Pumpkin Potato Cutlet
Ingredients
- Besan (Gram Flour)- is the prime ingredient of this recipe. Besan binds the vegetables together for deep or air frying.
- Olive oil- While any vegetable oil works well, I have used little olive oil to grease the air fryer basket and added some to the batter.
- Green Chili- Freshly chopped green chilies add spicy kick to these pakora. Make sure to adjust the heat.
- Onion-Red onions work best. One may use spring onions too. Don't slice them too thin or too thick. Too thin would make them very crispy or burnt out and too thick won't be crispy.
- Potato-Any good variety of potatoes work well. I have thin sliced potatoes as very thick would leave them raw from within.
- Indian Spices- Red chili powder, Dry mango powder, garam masala works great. You may Also add coriander powder, and cumin powder.
- Salt
- Water-Start with less water as these pakoras won't have batter like consistency the way deep fried have.
How To Make Air Fryer Pakoda- Potato Onion
Step 1 Prep Batter for Pakora
Wash onion and potato and slice them thin. Keep them in separate bowls as we would make separate pakora for both. Also wash and chop green chilies as you like.
Preheat your air fryer to 375°F (190°C) for about 5 min while you prep the batter.
In a large bowl, add chopped onion, green chili, salt, spices, oil, and besan. Gradually add water while stirring the mixture. I prefer using my hands (you may wear gloves for hand hygiene) as I get better understanding of the texture of the batter. Ensure there are no lumps in the batter. Mix till the onions are fully coated with besan and stick to your hand.
The same procedure you may follow for Potato Pakora. In a bowl, add sliced potato and add spices, salt, oil, and besan. Gradually add water till each slice of coated with gram flour nicely.
Step 2 Air Fry Pakora
Lightly coat the air fryer basket with cooking oil spray or use a brush to apply a thin layer of olive oil.
Take a spoonful of the batter and drop it gently into the air fryer basket, forming small pakora shapes. Repeat until the basket is filled, leaving some space between each pakora.
Lightly spray or brush the tops of the pakoras with a little cooking oil.
Place the basket into the air fryer and cook the pakoras at 375°F (190°C) for 8-10 minutes or until they turn golden brown and crispy. Flip or shake the basket halfway through the cooking time for even browning and spray some oil again.
Once the pakoras are cooked, carefully remove them from the air fryer basket and place them on a serving plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
I had air fried in three batches- two for onion and another for potato that helped me made 12-14 onion pakora and 6-8 potato pakora.
Step 3 Serve It
Serve the Air Fryer Pakoras hot with your favorite chutney, dip, or sauce.
Storage Suggestions
Over 15 years of cooking, I never had left over pakora. If you have any left overs, let pakora attain room temperature. Keep them in dry container with a lid for about 2 days in the refrigerator. I am not sure if freezing pakora would be a good thing as they might lose their crispy texture.
Reheating: When ready to eat the refrigerated pakoras, reheat them in the air fryer or oven at 375°F (190°C) until they are warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, Air fryer can help you cook India style recipes like aloo vegetable, pakora, or Tikkis. But for gravy and chapati, you would like to stick with old style of cooking.
Yes, one may air fryer papad easily for a crispy texture.
Air fryer helps you create crispy fries- beet, carrot and other. You may brush little oil over the vegetable for perfect crispiness.
Expert Tips
- Preheating Air fryer for 10 min (or as per the model you use) would help you create crispy pakora quickly.
- Make sure to brush oil in the air fryer basket or else the pakora would stick at the bottom.
- Add little oil in the batter of pakora. This would make them softer from within when air fried.
- Arrange the pakoras in a single layer, leaving some space between each piece. Use parchment paper if you are a beginner.
- When halfway through the cooking time, flip the pakoras or gently shake the basket to ensure even browning on all sides.
- The batter should be lump free and not like the one made in classical pakora. This batter won't be fluid but sticky. Add water gradually and once the besan is wet and sticks to your hand, don't add more water.
- I haven't used baking powder but if you like very fluffy pakora, feel free to add a pinch of it.
You May Also Like:
- Makki Ki Roti (Punjabi Maize Flour Flatbread)
- Methi Paratha Recipe
- Methi Matar Malai
- Easy Fermented Cucumber Pickle
- Roasted Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
- Indian Mango Rice
Don't forget to subscribe to my Weekly Newsletter for a free Recipe!
Air Fryer Pakora- Potato Onion
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer Instructions for oven are given
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Chopping board
Ingredients
- ½ cup besan
- 2 medium onion thinly sliced, 4-5 tablespoon besan
- 1 medium potato would need 1-2 tablespoon besan
- 1 small fresh green chili
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Raw mango powder You may use lemon juice as well
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoon olive oil for batter and brushing the air fryer basket
- salt as per taste
Instructions
- Wash onion and potato and slice them thin. Keep them in separate bowls as we would make separate pakora for both. Also wash and chop green chilies as you like. Preheat your air fryer to 375°F (190°C) for about 5 min while you prep the batter.
- In a large bowl, add chopped onion, green chili, salt, spices, oil, and besan. Gradually add water while stirring the mixture. I prefer using my hands (you may wear gloves for hand hygiene) as I get better understanding of the texture of the batter. Ensure there are no lumps in the batter. Mix till the onions are fully coated with besan and stick to your hand. The same procedure you may follow for Potato Pakora. In a bowl, add sliced potato and add spices, salt, oil, and besan. Gradually add water till each slice of coated with gram flour nicely.
- Lightly coat the air fryer basket with cooking oil spray or use a brush to apply a thin layer of olive oil.Take a spoonful of the batter and drop it gently into the air fryer basket, forming small pakora shapes. Repeat until the basket is filled, leaving some space between each pakora.Lightly spray or brush the tops of the pakoras with a little cooking oil.
- Place the basket into the air fryer and cook the pakoras at 375°F (190°C) for 8-10 minutes or until they turn golden brown and crispy. Flip or shake the basket halfway through the cooking time for even browning.Once the pakoras are cooked, carefully remove them from the air fryer basket and place them on a serving plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.I had air fried in two batches- one for onion and another for potato.
- Serve the Air Fryer Pakoras hot with your favorite chutney, dip, or sauce.
Video
Notes
- Preheating Air fryer for 10 min would help you create crispy pakora quickly.
- Make sure to brush oil in the air fryer basket or else the pakora would stick at the bottom.
- Add little oil in the batter of pakora. This would make them softer from within when air fried.
- Arrange the pakoras in a single layer, leaving some space between each piece. Overcrowding the air fryer basket can lead to uneven cooking, resulting in some pakoras being undercooked while others may become too crispy.
- When halfway through the cooking time, flip the pakoras or gently shake the basket to ensure even browning on all sides.
- The batter should be lump free and not like the one made in classical pakora. This batter won't be fluid but sticky. Add water gradually and once the besan is wet and sticks to your hand, don't add more water.
- I haven't used baking powder but if you like very fluffy pakora, fee free to add a pinch of it.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 2 | |
| Servings: 5 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 90 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 4.9g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat 0.7g | 3% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 244mg | 11% |
| Total Carbohydrate 9.6g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 2g | 7% |
| Total Sugars 3g | |
| Protein 2.6g | |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Calcium 15mg | 1% |
| Iron 1mg | 3% |
| Potassium 146mg | 3% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
Girisha Sridhar says
That looks so appetizing! I would definitely try this healthy pakora. Thanks!
Deepti says
Thank you so much for the encouraging words! Do let me know how it turn out for you!
Zeenia says
love it
Deepti says
Glad to know. Thanks:)