Crispy Aloo Pakora Recipe (2024)

Aloo Pakoras are deep-fried potato fritters, often served with green chutney. Pakora is a popular vegetarian street food snack (along with chana chaat and aloo chaat) in India and Pakistan. They're also a very popular snack made for Iftar in Ramadan. Follow my recipe and tips to make the best pakoras ever. Also gluten-free!

Also try these wildly popular Mixed Vegetable Pakora and yummy Chicken Pakora.

About this Recipe

I've grown up eating a lot of aloo pakora, and I think I know what a perfect pakora should be like. After spending all my life having pakoras as a monsoon or Iftar time snack, I think I've done quite a bit of 'research' on what they should be like. Haha.

I've also made many batches of these delicious fritters over the years, and with time I've learned quite a few tricks to make the best pakora!

Let's talk about the perfect aloo pakora:

First of all, they need to be CRISPY. It's no fun eating thickly coated potato slices that are soggy and sad. If we talk about aloo pakora in specific, the potato slices should be thinly sliced and fluffy once cooked. The combination of a crispy coated fluffy aloo pakora is pretty awesome!

Aloo pakora is also a popular snack for the monsoon weather! They're perfect with a hot cup of Karak Chai or Pakistani Chai.

Why this Recipe Works

• Tried and Tested Family Recipe: This is a recipe that my sister gave to me, and it always turns out perfect! The secret is to use a little bit of freshly grated ginger in the batter.
• Baking Powder: A little bit of baking powder goes a long way, and helps make the coating so crispy and delicious!
• Cooling rack: The thing with pakora, like most things deep-fried, they tend to get soggy pretty fast if you transfer them onto a paper lined plate after frying. This creates steam which makes the coating soggy. I've learned to place the freshly fried pakora onto a cooling rack which allows the air to criculate around and keep the pakoras crispier for longer.
• Mandolin: Use a mandolin to slice the potatoes thin! This is great for two reasons. First, all the potatoes are evenly sliced and cook evenly. Also, thinner slices of potatoes cook faster. I used to cut my potatoes thicker but then sometimes they wouldn't be cooked through!

Ingredients for Aloo Pakora

1. Gram flour: Also known as besan or chickpea flour, gram flour is made from dried ground chickpeas. It's easily available in most big grocery stores these days. It's also naturally gluten free.
2. Potatoes: Use potatoes with high starch content such as Idaho or Russet.
3. Spices: You'll need coriander powder, chaat masala, red chili powder and salt. It's easy enough to switch around spices in this recipe, so if you don't have one of these that's okay. I've added substitution notes in the recipe card below.
4. Fresh ginger: it adds a delicious flavor to the pakoras.
5. Green chillies: You can skip these if you want to keep the heat lower in these potato fritters.
6. Baking powder: Not a traditional ingredient use to make aloo pakora, but it helps to make them very crispy!
7. Water: Unlike for the mixed vegetable pakora where we use very little water, for aloo pakora we need to keep the batter on the thin side, so that the coating is super crispy after frying. If the batter is thick, we'll end up with a thick and soft coating which is no fun!
8. Oil: for deep frying. Use any neutral flavored oil with a high smoking point.

How to Make It

1. Combine the dry ingredients: In a mixing bowl, add the besan (gram flour), the spices, and the green chillies.
2. Add water: Gradually add cold water while mixing with a spoon. The batter should be quite thin and lump free. The amount of water varies according to the brand and quality of your besan. I use about 1:1 to ratio to make the batter.
3. Potatoes: Add the sliced potatoes and mix well until they're fully submerged in the batter.
4. Fry on Medium Heat: Using your hands, place battered covered potato slices one by one into the oil. Make sure to let excess batter drip off in the mixing bowl. You can also use a spoon to do this step. Fry the pakoras for 2-3 minutes on each side, flipping once or twice to ensure even cooking.
5. Transfer to cooling rack: Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried pakoras to a cooling rack.

TIP: If working in larger batches, you can keep the fried pakora warm in the oven at 80 C/ 175 F on the baking tray.

Expert Tips for Making Crispy Aloo Pakora

• Batter Consistency: The pakora batter should neither be too thin or thick. In fact I keep it on the thinner side (unlike for the vegetable pakoras), as it yeilds a much more crispy exterior to the pakora and the potato is nice and fluffy inside.
• Baking Soda: Acts as a leavening agent and helps to create gas bubbles in the batter. This leads to crispiness and lightness to the fried pakora.
• Use a mandolin: Slice the potatoes in thin rounds so they crisp up nicely. Use a mandolin for even slicing!
• Medium High Heat: Fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. If the heat is too low, the aloo pakoras will become absorb too much oil and become soggy. High heat will cook the batter too fast, and the potatoes will remain uncooked. You can check the oil is ready by dropping a few drops of batter into the fry pan. They should sizzle up in about 2 seconds or so and start floating on the surface of the oil.
• Cool on a baking rack: After frying the pakoras place them on a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet. This way the aloo pakoras won’t lose their crispiness from the steam released when you place them on a plate lined with kitchen towel.
• Fry in Batches: Don't overcrowd the frying pan with lots of pakoras at a time, to ensure even cooking.
• Use potatoes with high starch content: The best potatoes to use for this recipe are russet or idaho potatoes. You can also use sweet potatoes, for a sweeter note!

Three Dipping Sauces for Serving

• Garlic yogurt sauce:My personal favorite dip to make with these pakora, and it's so addictive you won't be able to stop snacking on it! You'll need a 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1-2 garlic cloves (minced), thinly sliced green chilli, and salt to taste. Just mix all the ingredients together, and it turns out amazing! This is my mom's recipe, and it's absolutely delicious. I make it for every Iftar with pakoras.
• Green chutney:The most common chutney served with pakoras. It's easy, bright, herby and fresh, with fantastic flavor. Find the recipe here:green chutney.
• Imli Chutney (Tamarind Sauce):This sweet and tangy chutney is easy to make, and stores well in the fridge for a few weeks. Here's the recipe:Imli Chutney.

Leftovers and Reheating

Aloo Pakoras are best enjoyed freshly fried. However, you can reheat them in the oven. Place the pakoras onto a single layer on a baking sheet, and warm-up for a few minutes at 180 c / 350 F. You can store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1-2 days.

FAQs and Troubleshooting Common Problems

More Delicious Pakistani Snacks

• Masala Fries
• Pizza Fries
• Dorito Nachos
• Chana Chaat
• Aloo Chaat
• Chicken Seekh Kabab
• Aloo Tikki
• Chicken Cheese Balls
• Baked Spinach and Cheese Samosa
• Chocolate Samosa

Note: This post was originally published on Sep 16, 2019. It's now been updated with new pictures and step-by-step photos.