Pakoda Recipe – Am I the only one who dreams about crispy and spicy snack? I translated my craving to these “Stuffed red chilli fritters” or “Mirchi Pakoda | Bhajiya”, when I recently went to grocery store and found these perfect yummy red chillies. Seeing these chillies, I got immediately tempted and bought them, only to translate these into a scrumptious snack for my evening tea.
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Do you find these fritters as delicious as I am seeing? Don’t you think it’s the right kind of snack for any day? If you have never tried these before, you must do a favour to yourself and give it a go!
These are not difficult to make either. Check the ingredients list and you will see it only needs the basic ingredients you will normally find in your pantry.
What is Pakoda or Pakora
Pakoda or Pakora or Bhajiya or bhajia is one and same thing, This is deep fried fritter, normally made from gram flour. A paste is made from gram flour using water, add spices to this paste and deep fry it. These fritters or pakora can be of any thing. Most common being onion and potato. Other versions can be from spinach, paneer, broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus, or anything really.
Mirchi Pakoda (Pakora) is a fritter made with chilli.
The key to this recipe is to choose right kind of chillies.
Two considerations:
- Chilli should be thick enough so that you can put in the stuffing.
- Careful that the chilli is not too spicy (find one which matches your taste buds). I have chosen these red ones, and these are less spicy.
Other than chillies, potato masala is another important element of this recipe. A well prepared stuffing adds to the taste.
Lastly, you need to dip these chillies one by one into batter made of Gram flour, and deep fry on low to medium heat, just enough to make sure outer layer is cooked to golden perfection.
Method to make Mirchi Pakoda or Bhajiya
- Wash and pat dry the chillies, subsequently slit them in middle.
- In a pan, heat one tablespoon oil. Add the chilli powder, garam masala powder, chaat masala, turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and grated boiled potatoes to it. Mix well and switch off the heat. Divide this into 12 equal portions.
- Stuff this mixture into the slitted Red chillies.
- In a mixing bowl, add the gram flour, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and about 1/2 cup of water. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and mix well to make a smooth batter and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Heat sufficient oil in a Pan/Kadhai. Dip the stuffed chillies in the gram flour batter, coat them nicely and deep-fry until golden brown.
Pro Tips
- Keep in mind which kind of chilli you want. You are ideally looking for chilli which can be stuffed, hence big meaty chilli is ideal choice.
- Check how spicy you wish your chilli to be, I have gone for mild ones.
- Remove seeds from the chilli. Seeds can cause oil to splitter and normally adds to spiciness.
- Be extra vigilant while frying as sometimes chillies might splutter.
- Try paneer stuffing if you want to make these fritters to taste even more better (lots of people love paneer).
This Mirchi Pakoda
- Is vegan as well as gluten-free
- Is great to be enjoyed as snack or appetiser
- If you in India, enjoy it with hot tea or coffee during monsoon.
Serving suggestion for mirchi pakoda
Serve hot mirchi pakodas with green chutney over tea. That’s a divine feeling to eat it on a rainy day.
Stuffed Red Chilli Fritters | Mirchi Pakoda
Ingredients
- 12 Red Chillies These are big ones you get in market and are less spicy
- 5 Boiled Potatoes Medium Size – Grated
- 1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder As per your taste
- 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Chaat Masala
- 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt As Per Taste
- 1 Cup Gram flour / Besan
- Oil 2 tablespoon and to deep fry
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the chillies, subsequently slit them in middle.
- In a pan, heat one tablespoon oil. Add the chilli powder, garam masala powder, chaat masala, turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and grated boiled potatoes to it. Mix well and switch off the heat. Divide this into 12 equal portions.
- Stuff this mixture into the slitted Red chillies.
- In a mixing bowl, add the gram flour, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and about 1/2 cup of water. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and mix well to make a smooth batter and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Heat sufficient oil in a Pan/Kadhai. Dip the stuffed chillies in the gram flour batter, coat them nicely and deep-fry until golden brown.
Notes
- Keep in mind which kind of chilli you want. You are ideally looking for chilli which can be stuffed, hence big meaty chilli is ideal choice.
- Check how spicy you wish your chilli to be, I have gone for mild ones.
- You can remove seeds from chillies after slitting chilli.
- Be extra vigilant while frying as sometimes chillies might splutter.
Nutrition
Best served hot with Mint Coriander chutney.