These cabbage pakoras are packed with flavour and beautifully soft and light inside with a crisp, spiced batter. Pakoras are an Indian snack, deep fried with a spiced batter. The batter is made with besa (also known as chickpea flour, gram flour or garbanzo flour) and is super easy to whip up.
Ingredients125 g (4.4 oz) chickpea flour
25 g (0.9 oz) rice flour
1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
1/4 tsp (0.3 tsp) pepper
1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) chili powder
1/4 tsp (0.3 tsp) ground coriander
1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) turmeric powder
1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) cumin
200 g (7.1 oz) white cabbage shredded
1/2 brown onion halved and sliced
1/2 red chili finely chopped
vegetable oil to fry
Method- Put the chickpea flour, rice flour, salt, coriander, chilli powder, turmeric and cumin in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together.
- Add the cabbage, onion and fresh red chilli.
- Mix together.
- Measure 150ml (2/3 US cup) of water a little at a time, stirring until you have a thick, batter coating the cabbage - you might not need all of the water. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Prepare the oil in your deep fat fryer or a large, high-sided saucepan. It’s no more than one third full to allow for safe expansion during heating and cooking.
- Heat the oil to 180C (355F) or until a little bit of batter dropped into the oil bubbles.
- Lower large spoonfuls of batter into the oil. Only cook 3-4 pakora at a time so that you don’t overcrowd the pan.
- Fry for 3 minutes until crisp and golden, turning gently as needed.
- Lift from the pan using a slotted spoon or straining spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper to allow the oil to drain.
- If you like, you can place the drained pakora on a baking sheet in a low oven to stay hot and crisp while you fry the rest of the batch.