Onion Pakoda | Crispy Onion Pakora with step by step pictures and short video. Onion Pakora are crispy onion fitters usually paired with cup of hot masal chai or filter coffee during rainy days. But irrespective of season crispy onion pakora’s are my family favorite and often I make this at home. Though this onion pakoda can also be stored in a air tight container for a day as it stays fresh and retains its crispness , it never lasts so long 🙂 . And also nothing can beat the taste of hot pakora’s 🙂

This easy to make pakora’s are bit different from regular pakora’s in texture with its crunch and crispness. One can find such pakora’s in any old fashioned bakeries in every nook and corner streets of Bangalore , Mysore , Karnataka. This kind of pakora’s are quite popular in bakeries but again I never miss to mention that best you get in Iyengar Bakery. As I’m born and brought up in Mysore , my knowledge about these snacks availability is limited to Karnataka only . I have no idea on whether similar kind of pakora’s are available in other bakeries across India . So please excuse me on this, as I have not mentioned about other places. This is similar to restaurant style onion pakora , crisp and crunch.
So how are these onion pakoda recipe different from other pakora’s?
This onion pakora’s are very crispy and crunchy . Unlike other pakora’s its not batter dipped and fried , rather its just coated with flours for binding and fried till crisp and crunch. While eating this pakora’s you get crisp onions in every bite.
If you are looking for some crispy evening snacks , then do check
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Pro tip’s to get restaurant style crispy onion pakoda
Flours to onion ratio should be 1: 2 . I have used 1/2 cup gram flour / besan , 1/3 cup rice flour and 2 Tbsp of fine rava / barik sooji . Also while frying next batches , sprinkle about 1 Tbsp of gram flour to absorb the excess water released from onions. Just binding flour to onions in this way will not only give crisp pakora’s but also it doesn’t absorb much oil while frying. This ensures onion pakora’s turn crisp. Always fry on medium heat, turn around and cook on both sides till golden in colour . Onion pakora’s takes less salt , hence be careful while adding salt. I added 3/4 Tsp of salt for the entire batch of pakora’s .
RECIPE CARD FOR ONION PAKODA | CRISPY ONION PAKORA
Onion Pakoda | Crispy Onion Pakora Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Onions, sliced and separated
- 1/2 Cup Besan / Gram Flour / Chickpea Flour
- 1/3 Cup Rice Flour
- 2 Tbsp Fine Semolina / Barik Rava
- 2 no's Green Chillies . chopped , less spice variant
- 1 Tbsp Curry leaves , finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp Mint leaves , finely chopped
- 1/2 Tsp Ajwain /Carom seeds
- 1/2 tsp Ginger grated
- 1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
- 1.5 Tsp Red Chilli powder
- 1/4 Tsp Hing /Aasafoetida
- 1 Tbsp Cashew pieces , soaked , optional
- 1 Tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1 Tsp Fennel Seeds
- 2 Tbsp Hot oil
- Extra oil for frying Pakora
- 4-5 sprigs of curry leaves for frying , optional
- 1-2 Tbsp of extra gram flour , if required – refer notes
Instructions
- Take 4 medium to large onions, thinly slice and separate onions.
- In a mixing bowl add , onions, chopped curry leaves , mint leaves green chilies, grated ginger, salt, red chilli powder ,turmeric powder , hing/ asafoetida, carom seeds /ajwain, saoked cashew pieces .
- In a mortar & pestle , take 1 tbsp of coriander seeds and 1 Tsp of fennel seeds, crush roughly and add this into the above mixture.
- Mix well. and set this aside for 10 minutes.
- Whilst keep oil to heat.
- After 10 minutes , add gram flour , rice flour and semolina/sooji .
- Mix well everything , water released from onion is enough to bind everything together.
- Now add 2 tbsp of hot oil , it will sizzle . Mix well everything . This is ready to get fried , immediately drop into to the hot oil.
- Drop spoonful of onion mixture into hot oil . You can either use your hands or spoon to drop this mixture into oil.
- Turn over and cook on both sides on medium flame , till onion turns crisp and golden. Drain oil and remove , place on a kitchen napkin to drain excess oil.
- Fry remaining onion mixture in batches, if onion has released some more water then sprinkle some gram flour to absorb water and then drop in oil , fry till crisp.
- After frying all batches of pakora, at last fry curry leaves till crisp and add on pakora.
- Serve onion pakora's with green chutney or tomato ketch up.
Video
Notes
- Add not more than 3/4 tsp of salt ,onion pakora’s tends to become salty.
- Always soak cashews in water for 10 minutes , drain water and add cashew bits. This way cashews doesn’t burn while frying pakora’s
- If frying pakora’s in 2-3 batches than sprinkle some gram flour on onions to absorb excess water and fry
Step by Step Directions to make Crispy Onion Pakoda
Take 4 medium to large onions, thinly slice and separate onions.
In a mixing bowl , add onions, chopped curry leaves , mint leaves green chilies, grated ginger, salt, red chilli powder ,turmeric powder , hing/ asafoetida ,carom seeds /ajwain , soaked cashew pieces .
In a mortar & pestle , take 1 tbsp of coriander seeds and 1 Tsp of fennel seeds, crush roughly and add this into the above mixture.
Mix well.
Set this aside for 10 minutes.
Whilst keep oil to heat.
After 10 minutes , add gram flour , rice flour and semolina/sooji
Mix well everything , water released from onion is enough to bind everything together.
Now add 2 tbsp of hot oil , it will sizzle .
Mix well everything . This is ready to get fried , immediately drop into to the hot oil.
Drop spoonful of onion mixture into hot oil . You can either use your hands or spoon to drop this mixture into oil.
Turn over and cook on both sides on medium flame , till onion turns crisp and golden.
Drain oil and remove , place on a kitchen napkin to drain excess oil.
Fry remaining onions in batches, if onion has released more water then sprinkle some gram flour to absorb water and then drop in oil , fry till crisp.
After frying all batches of pakora, at last fry curry leaves till crisp and add on onion pakora.
Serve onion pakora’s with green chutney or tomato ketch up.

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