Onion Pakoda | Eerulli Bajji | Kanda Bhaji | Onion Pakora | Onion Fritters

On a rainy monsoon evening everyone feels like eating something crisp and spicy. Onion pakodas will be in the top 5 things to make on such an evening. It is easy to rustle up this snack and I love eating a couple of them once in a while. Add subtle spices like ajwain (om) or jeera, it will aid in digestion. Ensure not to fry them on very high heat, fry them on medium heat to cook them all the way till the middle. Enjoy these crisp, karara, onion pakoda/ kanda bhaji(Marathi)/ onion fritters/ eerulli bajji(Kannada) with your cuppa. These snacks are famous world over and they even sell these cold in supermarkets. But homemade fresh hot pakodas are the best!

Onion Pakoda | Eerulli Bajji | Kanda Bhaji | Onion Pakora | Onion Fritters

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Crisp pakodas to enjoy on a rainy evening

Author: Vindhya Desai

Recipe type: Starter/Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 12-14 small lemon sized pakodas

Ingredients

For dry mixture:

• ½ Cup besan/gram flour/kadale hittu
• 2 Tbsp rice flour/chawal ka atta/akki hittu
• 1 Tbsp fine semolina/fine rava/chiroti rave
• Salt to taste
• ½ Tsp sugar
• ¼ Tsp turmeric/haldi
• ½ Tsp red chilli powder/lal mirch powder
• ⅛ Tsp asafoetida/hing/ingu
• ¼ Tsp ajwain/carom seeds/om kaalu
• A pinch of baking soda (optional)
• Few curry leaves/karibevu
  

For pakodas:

• 2 Big onions
• Water to bind
• Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Slice onions lengthwise or horizontally. I slice them horizontally, they slice thinner and slices are longer. Separate out the slices and keep aside
2. In a bowl, start mixing dry ingredients. Add besan. Add rava and rice flour
3. Add salt, sugar
4. Add red chilli powder, turmeric and hing. Mix well
5. Add ajwain and mix well
6. Add a pinch of baking soda. Mix well till combined
7. Add a few curry leaves. Mix and keep aside
8. In a bigger bowl add onion slices
9. To this, add the dry mixture. Mix well till besan mixture coats all onion slices
10. Add a couple of tbsp of water. Mix well. Add a little more water if it is dry. I added around ¼ cup of water to bind it all together
11. Heat oil on low-medium flame. Make small lemon sized balls with the onion mixture. Slowly drop into heated oil. Repeat for a few more pakodas
12. Fry on medium flame till golden
13. Remove from oil and put pakodas on kitchen paper towels to drain off excess oil
14. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Serve with ketchup and a hot cup of coffee

Notes

When making pakodas do NOT press them tightly. Let them be rustic with a few onion slices poking out, this will make them crisp and not hard and chewy

Add water slowly while mixing, you do not want to end up with a batter but just enough to bind them all together to shape them

Add chopped green chillies if you want

Adding a bit of sugar gives a nice colour to the pakodas and balances all flavours

Adding a tbsp of fine rava makes the pakodas crisp

3.5.3208

 Stepwise:

Slice onions lengthwise or horizontally. I slice them horizontally, they slice thinner and slices are longer. Separate out the slices and keep aside
 

In a bowl, start mixing dry ingredients. Add besan. Add rava and rice flour
 

Add salt, sugar
 

Add red chilli powder, turmeric and hing. Mix well

Add ajwain and mix well

Add a pinch of baking soda. Mix well till combined

Add a few curry leaves. Mix and keep aside

In a bigger bowl add onion slices

To this, add the dry mixture. Mix well till besan mixture coats all onion slices
 

Add a couple of tbsp of water. Mix well. Add a little more water if it is dry. I added around 1/4 cup of water to bind it all together
 

Heat oil on low-medium flame. Make small lemon sized balls with the onion mixture. Slowly drop into heated oil. Repeat for a few more pakodas
  

Fry on medium flame till golden
 

Remove from oil and put pakodas on kitchen paper towels to drain off excess oil

Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Serve with ketchup and a hot cup of coffee/tea