Air Fryer Pakora

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Air fryer pakora - a healthier version of traditional Indian pakora made in the air fryer and with the Mazola® Corn Oil. Presenting my version of the baked, vegetable air-fried pakora recipe.  A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, visit Mazola.com. 

Mazola Corn Oil is an all-purpose, cholesterol-free cooking oil that is a smart heart-healthy* choice for your family. *See Mazola.com for more information on the relationship between corn oil and heart health. It has a variety of uses include baking, grilling, sautéing, stir-frying, or mixing up a marinade or dressing.

Pakora is a traditional Indian fritter almost always deep-fried to perfection. Most of the time, pakora is spicy, full of veggies or onions. Since February is the heart health month, I am using Mazola Corn Oil to make this healthy, non-fried version of the Indian pakora in the air fryer.

While the traditional Pakoras are 400 to 700 calories per serving, my air fried pakoras are just 39 calories per serving and have only 3g of total fat. In short, my pakoras have 80% lesser fat and 70% fewer calories than the traditional version.

***All nutrition claims are approximate calculation in the nutrition calculators.

Each Indian region also has its own version of pakora too. Southern versions are more crusty and have lots of onions whereas northern versions are spicy and crispy. Here I have a common version, with loads of veggies and spices.

Mazola Corn Oil is better for you and I am using this to make the pakora batter to air fry. Instead of deep-frying, we are air frying here. I am using cabbage, onions, cilantro and fresh ginger in this batter. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans no longer emphasize a “low-fat” diet, but rather choosing quality, “good” fats. This includes replacing saturated fats that are known to contribute to a heart disease with unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, like those in Mazola Corn Oil. And, according to the USDA, corn oil has more than five times the amount of polyunsaturated fats compared to olive oil.

A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, visit Mazola.com.

I have also used homemade chickpea flour in this recipe. For a crispier texture, I always add a few tablespoons of rice flour. Rice flour gives a nice, crisp texture to the pakoras. If you don’t want to add rice flour, then add some corn starch instead.

Adding freshly ground spices and herbs does lift up the flavor of the air fryer pakora a lot. Adding oil also helps to balance the texture and crispness even without deep frying. Even though it’s not deep-fried, the air fryer version tastes almost the same. Thanks to the Mazola Corn Oil that gives the right body and texture to the pakora batter.

How to Make Air Fryer Pakora?

Ingredients:

For this pakora, we need all these ingredients.
1 ¼ cup Besan (Gram flour), 3 tablespoon Rice Flour, 1 ½ teaspoon Chilli Powder (or Paprika), a pinch of Hing or Asafoetida, 2 teaspoon Salt, ½ cup Cabbage, sliced into thin long strips or ½ cup finely chopped Potatoes, ½ Onion, finely chopped, ¼ cup fresh Cilantro, chopped, 2 tsp. finely chopped Green Chillies, 2 tablespoon Mazola Corn Oil, ¼ cup water, ketchup or Coriander Chutney to serve

Method of Making Air-Fryer Pakora:

• Mix besan with rice flour in a large mixing bowl.
• In another bowl, take all the veggies and add spices and salt. Set aside for five minutes to allow vegetables to lose some water.
• Now add 2 tablespoon of Mazola Corn Oil and mix well. Add besan-rice flour mixture and give a good mix. Set aside for a few minutes.

• After 5-6 minutes, mix the batter/dough again and add a tablespoon of water at a time or more as needed to make a batter of dough-like consistency. Remember that the consistency of the batter should be thick, not liquidy.
• Preheat the air fryer at 355F for 5 minutes. If using the CrispLid, follow the same instructions.
• Now line the air fryer tray with an aluminum foil and grease it with cooking oil spray.
• Take a small spoon and scoop out an equal amount of mixture onto it.

• Air fry at 355F for 10 minutes while turning the pakoras halfway during cooking and then air fry for 4 minutes again at 325 F. Depending on the air fryer, it may take 12- to 18-minutes for the pakoras to become crispy and fully cooked.
• Once the pakoras turn evenly brown and crispy, they are ready to serve.
• Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

📖 Recipe

Air Fryer Pakora

Air fryer pakora - a healthier version of traditional Indian pakora made in the air fryer and with the Mazola Heart Healthy Corn Oil. Presenting my version of the baked, vegetable air-fried pakora recipe.

4.73 from 37 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Air fryer pakora, Air fryer recipe, Baked pakora, instant pot kadhi pakora, no-fry pakora, oil-free pakora, pakora, Spicy pakora

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 39kcal

Author: Sophie

Cost: $5

Equipment

• Air Fryer

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup Besan, Gram flour
• 3 tablespoon Rice Flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon Chilli Powder, or Paprika
• A pinch of Hing or Asafoetida
• 2 teaspoon Salt
• ½ cup Cabbage, sliced into thin long strips
• ½ Onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh Cilantro, chopped
• 2 tsps. finely chopped Green Chillies
• 2 tablespoon Mazola Corn Oil
• Ketchup and Chutney to serve

Instructions

• Method of Making Air-Fryer Pakora:
• Mix besan with rice flour in a large mixing bowl.
• In another bowl, take all the veggies and add spices and salt. Set aside for five minutes to allow vegetables to lose some water.
• Now add 2 tablespoon of Mazola Corn oil and mix well. Add besan-rice flour mixture and give a good mix. Set aside for a few minutes.
• After 5-6 minutes, mix the batter/dough again and add a tablespoon of water at a time or more as needed to make a batter of dough-like consistency. Remember that the consistency of the batter should be thick, not liquidy.
• Preheat the air fryer at 355F for 5 minutes.
• Now line the air fryer tray with an aluminum foil and grease it with cooking oil spray.
• Take a small spoon and scoop out an equal amount of mixture onto it.
• Air fry at 355F for 12 minutes while turning the pakoras halfway between cooking and then air fry again for 4 minutes at 325 F. Depending on the air fryer, pakoras may take 10-20 minutes to cook through and crispy. Once the pakoras are evenly brown and crispy, they are done.
• Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Instant Pot CrispLid

• Preheat the instant pot CrispLid at 355F for 5 minutes.
• Line the basket with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Add pakora dough balls onto the greased CrispLid Basket, and set the temperature for 6 minutes at 355F. After 6 minutes, turn them and cook for another 6 minutes or until desired crispness.
• Serve hot with chutney.

Baking:

• Preheat the oven at 350F for 5-6 minutes.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease it well.
• Use a tablespoon to make pakora dough balls and flatten them on the baking sheet.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes and turn and then bake again for another 4-5 minutes till the edges are brown.
• Some ovens may take long for making the pakoras super crispy. Keep an eye on them after 8 minutes to see if any signs of overcooking.
• Once baked, allow them to cool down a bit before serving. Usually, the baked version becomes crispier a few minutes after the baking.
• Serve hot with chutney.

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Video

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Notes

• Never add more than 2 tablespoon of oil to the batter. Or else, the pakoras will be crumbly after cooking.
• Do not add more water to the batter. It will be a mess while cooking in the air fryer.
• Do not use veggies like tomatoes, zucchini or water-based vegetables in pakora.
• Other vegetables that work well in this recipe are cauliflowers, potatoes, and spinach.

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Nutrition

Serving: 120g | Calories: 39kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 112mg | Potassium: 177mg

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Here is another air fryer snack that you will love:

Air Fryer Samosa {Keto}