Cabbage Pakoda

Cabbage Pakoda or cabbage fritters are a crunchy and delicious evening snack that goes really well with masala chai.

Both deep fried and air fryer recipes are shared here. Cabbage is a vegetable that I love to cook with. It is my favourite in this cabbage and carrot salad, cabbage steak, in stir fries, noodles and wherever I want a crunchy vegetable side.

I also love to make kimchi with it. This cabbage pakora recipe involves using finely chopped cabbage with onions and spices. Then one makes a batter of chickpea flour and rice flour (or cornstarch) for a crunchy treat.

If you have never had pakoras, you are really missing out. Do try this onion pakoda, bread pakora, palak pakora and potato pakora. They are so tasty.

You may also like: Paneer fingers, Chilli Cheese Toast, masala peanuts, Cheesy Broccoli.

Ingredients

Cabbage: This is the main ingredient. You can use both pink and green cabbage here.

Onion: Finely sliced onion add a nice crunch to the recipe.

Green chillies: I love them for little bites of heat.

Chickpea Flour: Besan or chickpea flour is the base for most pakodas. 

Rice flour: This is added to make the pakodas more crispy.

You can substitute this with cornstarch or even skip it.

Spices, herbs and salt: They are used to flavour the pakodas.

Cilantro is used for its fresh taste.

Variations

1. These cabbage pakoda are vegan.

They are also gluten free if you use rice flour and not cornstarch that is mentioned as one of the substitutes.

2. You can add other vegetables like finely chopped potato, chopped peppers, spinach to the pakora batter for more variety.

3. Add paneer or crumbled tofu to the pakoda for a protein rich fritter

4. Make it spicier by adding chilli flakes or more green chillies. 

5. Air frying or baking makes the cabbage pakodas healthier.

Serving suggestions

1. Serve cabbage pakodas hot as a snack with some green chutney and with masala chai.

2. They also go very well on a snack platter with samosas and onion bhajiyas for parties.

3. Serve them as a crispy side dish with hot dal and rice meal along with fresh cucumber salad.

Expert Tips

1. Do not make your batter runny. That will not make good pakodas.

Your batter must be medium thick like dough.

2. If deep frying, don’t use very hot oil or your pakodas may get very browned but not cooked well inside.

3. While air frying, brushing them with a little oil while air frying gives them a closer to deep fried appearance.

4. You can use cornstarch in place of rice flour or skip it and add some more besan or chickpea flour.

5. Finely shredding the veggies makes them crispy when making pakodas.

6. Don’t make very large fritters or they take very long to air fry or deep fry.

Smaller ones turn crispier quicker.

7. You can use a combination of purple and green cabbage for a nice contrast.

8. For deep frying, use any oil of high smoking point like peanut oil or vegetable oil. In North India, mustard oil is used for deep frying pakodas.

Instructions

Finely shred cabbage and keep aside.

Finely slice onion and keep aside.

Chop or mince ginger garlic (or use ginger garlic paste) and green chili.

You could use jalapeño in place of green chilli or skip it if you don’t like the heat.

In a wide bowl, take together shredded cabbage with sliced onion.

Add garam masala, chilli powder or paprika, turmeric powder and ajwain or carrom seeds.

Carrom seeds lend a unique flavour to the pakodas and are also good for digestion.

If you can’t source them in your Indian grocery, then you can skip them or use some dried oregano in their place.

Also add salt and ginger garlic paste.

Mix everything together and leave aside for 5 minutes.

The veggies will release some water and also absorb the flavours of the spices well.

Add minced chilli and cilantro leaves.

Add chickpea flour or besan along with rice flour or cornstarch that you are using.

You can also skip the rice flour.

It is mainly used to make cabbage pakodas more crunchy.

Add 1 tsp. vegetable oil to the mixture.

Mix well with your hands. Add very little water to form the batter.

It should not be too runny but more like a grainy dough.

Deep Frying

Heat 1 cup oil in a hot pan or kadai.

When it is medium hot, check by adding a drop of the batter.

If it floats to the top with a lot of bubbles, your oil is ready for deep frying.

Using your hands or spoon, make small fritters or pakoda and drop them gently into the medium hot oil.

Don’t overcrowd your kadai. Fry them well on both sides till golden brown.

Take out using a slotted spoon onto absorbent paper in a. plate. 

Serve hot sprinkled with chaat masala and a side of chutney.

Air frying Instructions

Preheat air fryer at 360F or 180C for 4 minutes.

Put a perforated parchment paper to line air fryer basket.

This makes clean up easier and also prevents the pakodas from sticking to the basket.

Now make small pakodas from the batter and place on air fryer basket.

Make sure that there is enough space between them and no overlap.

Air fry at 360F or 180C for 5 minutes.

Brush pakodas with oil and flip them. Air fry for 3-5 minutes more on this side.

After this time if your pakodas are not browned, increase the temperature to 200C or 390F.

Air fry for 2-3 minutes more till they become browned and well cooked inside.

Take out your air fryer cabbage pakoda and serve them hot with ketchup or chutney.

Oven Instructions

Preheat oven at 350F or 175C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Place cabbage pakodas in one row.

Bake at 350F or 175C for 10 minutes. Flip them and bake for 5-7 minutes more.

They should get crispy edges. If they still don’t look cooked, you can bake for a few minutes more.

Take them out and serve them hot with chutney or ketchup. Enjoy.

FAQs

1. How do I make my cabbage pakoda crispy?

Adding some rice flour or cornstarch to the batter makes the pakoda crispy.

2. How do I make the pakodas soft and light?

Add ¼ tsp. baking powder to the batter to make the pakoda soft and light.

Here's the recipe card:

📖 Recipe Card

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