Onion Pakoda I Onion Bhaji

Onion Pakoda also known as onion bhaji is a delicious snack and treat. It is a popular crunchy Indian street food recipe that gets a healthy avatar in the air fryer. Both recipes are shared below.

Pakoda or fritters are very popular in India. Vegetables are enrobed in a chickpea flour batter with a few spices and deep fried to golden gorgeousouss. Downed with masala chai, you see it sold at every street corner.

You can check out this aloo pakora recipe in Air fryer.

The recipe is super easy but if you are making air fryer onion pakoda or bhaji does you need a few tweaks as shared below.

You may also enjoy these air fryer snacks: samosa, chilli cheese toast, hara bhara kabab, beetroot cutlet, aloo tikki chaat, paneer tikka, banana chips.

Ingredients

1. Onion: Since these are onion bhajis, onion is the star ingredient here. I sometimes also add finely chopped potato, green chillies and cilantro here. You can also add finely chopped cabbage or carrot here.

2. Besan or Chickpea flour: This chickpea flour forms the batter for these onion pakodas.

3. Rice flour: This helps in crisping up the pakodas or fritters. You can try these rice flour substitutes if you don't have rice flour.

4. Spices: Finely chopped ginger and garlic along with carrom seeds, salt, cayenne, garam masala, turmeric powder lend flavor to these bhajis.

Variations

This is a vegan recipe which is also gluten free. Perfect for vegetarians and vegans.

You can use any oil that you like like olive oil or coconut oil. I personally prefer cold pressed mustard oil for its pungent kick.

Serving Suggestions

Serve hot onion pakoda with hot tea or coffee along with some green chutney. It is bliss.

Instructions

Add chickpea flour, rice flour and all the spices together and mix well. Finely slice onion and keep.

Now add them to finely sliced onion along with chopped cilantro or coriander leaves.

If you want you can add one finely chopped potato here as well.

Leave aside for 10 minutes. The mixture will become moist.

Now add water little by little so that the chickpea flour mix coats the onion.

Do not make the batter runny or it will not turn crispy.

For Air Frying

Pre heat Air fryer to 160 C or 320 F for 4 minutes.

Brush the basket with oil and place small pakoda dumplings in one layer on the basket or perforated tray.

You could use perforated parchment paper for easy cleanup here.

Air fry for 8-10 minutes at 360 F or 180C for larger pakodas (9 in one batch).

For smaller ones like 13-14 in a batch, air fry for 8-10 minutes at 160 C or 320 F.

Brush with oil midway. No need to flip.

Optional Now Air fry at 200 C or 390 F for 2-4 minutes more if you haven't got the brown colour yet.

That's it. Take out and serve your crispy tasty onion pakoda made in Air fryer hot with chutney or ketchup.

If you pakoda stick, you can use perforated parchment paper and line the pakoda on it to cook.

For Deep Frying

Now heat oil and using a spoon or your hands, put small portions of mixture into medium hot oil.

Fry till golden brown and cooked inside.

Drain onto kitchen towel using a slotted spoon and serve hot with green chutney and ketchup.

Enjoy onion pakora with hot cup of tea.

Pro Tips:

1. Keeping the batter aside ensures that onion release water and hence the pakoras will turn out crisp and not soggy.

2. When air frying, keep checking the pakoda to ensure they don't overcook. Don't over crowd the basket.

3. You can use parchment paper to prevent the pakode from sticking to the basket.

4. Always slice the onions finely for best results.

5. When deep frying, always fry at medium flame and not very high flame. To check if the oil is hot, put in a small speck if the mixture into the oil. If it comes up instantly then your oil is adequately hot.

6. I prefer to use cold pressed mustard oil (traditional) as the cooking medium as it lends its unique taste to the fritters but feel free to use any oil of your choice.

7. Don’t overcrowd the pan or kadhai or else the fritters will not cook evenly.

8. Don’t fry on low flame or your pakodas will get soggy.

9 You can add finely chopped potatoes and chillies to this onion pakoda mix for a delicious variation.

Here's the recipe card:

📖 Recipe Card

Hope you enjoyed this onion bhaji recipe and will try it at home.

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