I am taken aback to my childhood days, thinking of Onion Pakoda. Fried delicacies were a rare occurrence at our home, but when Amma made them we all enjoyed them immensely. On Sunday evenings, when all of us would be relaxing amma would quickly mix the besan/gram flour with other spices and onions – preparing these crispy pakodas. And there were times she used to make it as a side dish for rice as well – yes you read it right. At our home, these were not just snacks. Amma has this recipe of stuffing Pakoda mix in bitter gourd which tastes awesome. As kids we used to be adamant not to eat the bitter gourd and hence she would make pakodas for us. This is one snack that would be made when there are unexpected guests – as this gets made in a jiffy. Now at our house, we do NOT make fried food. In fact, I am so allergic to deep frying that I restrain any frying activity to once or twice a year. First I hate oily food and secondly, I am super scared of the hot oil. Unless otherwise it’s absolutely necessary, I do not deep fry anything. That said, the husband loves deep fried food. It has to be like that right? We are so different in everything. One of the evenings, when it was raining, the husband wished to have something crispy and crunchy. I know he loves onion pakodas and hence made it for him. The plate was empty in no time and ever since, every evening the husband would try his luck checking if we could make the pakodas again 😀 I know I am going to make these again, for rainy evenings call for hot crispy stuff!

To make Onion Pakodas Serves – 2 || Time to prepare – 20 mins || Difficulty level – Medium What I used –

Onions, 2 large Besan/Gram Flour, ½ cup (or less) Rice Flour, 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Green Chillies, 1 teaspoon (optional) Red Chilli Powder, 1 tsp Salt, as required Oil, for deep frying Water, a few tbsp Curry Leaves, a few sprigs

How I made –

Note –

The water from onion, salt mixture should be more than enough to make the Pakoda mix. If you add more water, the pakodas would be chewy and not crisp. Let the onions rest for a few mins before adding the flours. The amount of besan/gram flour is only an indication. Depending on how much water the onions release, you may require a little less. I suggest adding the flours by spoonful so that you would know when to stop. If you desire a spicier version, you can add chopped green chillies. I did not use any. Additionally, garam masala powder can be added. I did not use any. The oil should be hot while beginning and after that, reduce the flame to medium. Else, the pakodas would get browned outside but remain raw inside. While deep frying the pakodas, take a handful of the mix and drop it all over the oil. That way, the gram flour and onion mix would get equally spread. Else, there would be lumps of gram flour and individual onion pieces.

PS – I will update the step by step pictures for this recipe soon.