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Bread Pakora Recipe (North Indian Style)
4.9 from 46 votes

Bread Pakora Recipe (North Indian Style)

Bread pakora is a popular North Indian snack of bread fritters. Bread slices are stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes filling, batter-coated and then deep-fried.

Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
Servings: 3
Calories: 456 kcal
Course: Breakfast, Snacks
Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

for stuffing
  • 2 medium potato or 1 large potato or 175 grams potatoes
  • 1 teaspoon green chilies or serrano peppers or 1 to 2 green chilies, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Coriander leaves - chopped (cilantro leaves)
  • 2 teaspoons mint chopped (optional, leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) or add as required
  • salt as required
for batter
  • 1 cup besan (gram flour) - 100 to 110 grams
  • ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain) - skip if you do not have
  • ¼ tsp red chili powder or cayenne pepper
  • 1 to 2 pinches turmeric powder - optional
  • ¼ tsp garam masala
  • 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
  • 1 to 2 pinches baking soda - optional
  • ½ to ⅔ cup water or add as required
  • salt as required
other ingredients
  • 4 to 5 whole wheat bread slices or brown bread or white bread
  • neutral cooking oil for deep frying - as required, generic cooking oil

Instructions

Making potato stuffing
    Cup of Yum
  1. Boil or steam the potato in a pressure cooker or steamer till it is completely cooked. 
  2. When the potato becomes warm, then peel it. Grate and keep aside. You can also mash and keep aside.
  3. Add the coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilli, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, amchur powder, salt to the grated potatoes.
  4. Mix the spices & herbs very well with the mashed potatoes. Check the seasonings and adjust accordingly. Keep aside.
Making batter
  1. In a bowl, take the besan (gram flour), ajwain, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, asafoetida, baking soda (optional) and salt.
  2. Now add around ½ cup of water and mix very well.
  3. The batter should not be very thick nor too thin. If it is too thick, then add more water.
  4. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of hot oil when you keep the oil for deep frying in the batter. Mix well. Whisk briskly non-stop for 1 to 2 minutes to incorporate some air into the besan batter. 
Assembling
  1. On the chopping board, slice the bread into triangle or rectangle slices.
  2. Take around 2 to 3 tablespoons of the mashed potato mixture and spread it on the bread evenly.
  3. Cover this potato stuffed slice with another slice. You now have a triangular bread sandwich. Just slightly press the sandwich.
  4. Take the entire sandwich in your hand and dip it in the besan batter.
  5. Coat the stuffed bread sandwich evenly with the besan batter. Be gentle with the sandwich. Take care not to keep the stuffed bread sandwich a long time in the gram flour batter as the bread can break.
Frying
  1. By now, your oil is hot and you can easily slid the besan batter coated bread sandwich in the oil.
  2. Fry on a medium flame till they are crisp and golden brown.
  3. Place them on kitchen paper towels so that excess oil is absorbed.
  4. Serve bread pakora hot or warm with tomato sauce or with any chutney of your choice, or even coconut chutney.
  5. Enjoy the bread pakoda in the rains with a cup of indian ginger tea or masala tea.

Notes

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  • Potatoes: Potatoes which have a hight starch content like Idaho or Russet potatoes work best. Avoid using new potatoes.
  • Gram Flour: Indian fritters are usually made with gram flour which is flour made from husked and split chana dal. Chana dal is also called as bengal gram. Basically these are brown chickpeas which have been hulled and split. That said, you can even use chickpea flour which is made from white chickpeas (garbanzo beans or kabuli chana).
  • Spices and Herbs: You can make a number of variations in the recipe by adding different combinations of spices and herbs both in the gram flour batter as well as in the potato stuffing. Add fresh herbs and spices like mint leaves, cilantro (coriander leaves), ginger, garlic or ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, ground cumin, ground coriander powder, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, curry powder or garam masala and chaat masala. You can increase or decrease the number of spices as per your taste.
  • Cheese or paneer: Some grated cheddar or processed cheese or paneer in the potato stuffing also gives a good taste. 
  • Oily Pakora: Fry at medium heat in the oil so that the pakoda do not absorb too much oil. Do not fry on a low heat as then the pakoda will absorb more oil. Frying on a high heat will cook and brown bread pakora from outside leaving the insides raw and uncooked. Adding 1 to 2 teaspoons hot oil to the besan batter helps in making the pakoda crisp and reduces the oil absorption.
  • Batter Consistency: Make a medium consistency batter. A thick batter will be dense and not have a soft, fluffy outer texture. A thin batter will make the pakoda soggy by absorbing too much oil.
  • Scaling: You can easily halve or double the recipe.
  • Substitute for Dry Mango Powder: Substitute ½ teaspoon lemon juice for dry mango powder.
  • Carom seeds: Skip carom seeds if you do not have them. 
  • Asafetida: Omit adding asafetida if you do not have it. 

Nutrition Information

Calories 456kcal (23%) Carbohydrates 60g (20%) Protein 15g (30%) Fat 18g (28%) Saturated Fat 2g (10%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g (6%) Monounsaturated Fat 1g (5%) Cholesterol 1mg (0%) Sodium 1064mg (44%) Potassium 950mg (20%) Fiber 10g (40%) Sugar 7g (14%) Vitamin A 116IU (2%) Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 3mg Vitamin B6 1mg Vitamin C 28mg (31%) Vitamin E 6mg Vitamin K 7µg Calcium 58mg (6%) Vitamin B9 (Folate) 41µg Iron 11mg (61%) Magnesium 63mg (16%) Phosphorus 156mg Zinc 1mg

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 3 Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 456

% Daily Value*

Calories 456kcal 23%
Carbohydrates 60g 20%
Protein 15g 30%
Fat 18g 28%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g 6%
Monounsaturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 1mg 0%
Sodium 1064mg 44%
Potassium 950mg 20%
Fiber 10g 40%
Sugar 7g 14%
Vitamin A 116IU 2%
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 3mg
Vitamin B6 1mg
Vitamin C 28mg 31%
Vitamin E 6mg
Vitamin K 7µg
Calcium 58mg 6%
Vitamin B9 (Folate) 41µg
Iron 11mg 61%
Magnesium 63mg 16%
Phosphorus 156mg
Zinc 1mg

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.