Love the Cauliflower Pakoras you get at the Indian takeaways? Here's a an easy recipe to make at home with our fakeaway recipe. Cauliflower florets are smothered in a fragrant chickpea flour batter and deep fried to perfection. A fantastic side dish to serve on curry nights with green chutney.
About this easy Cauliflower Pakora ( Gobi Pakoda )
These tasty Indian cauliflower fritters are so easy and the perfect side for your next Indian dinner. Simply dip the cauliflower in the pakora batter and deep fry to perfection!
It is literally ready in under 30 minutes. Just like any fritters, serve them hot with or without a dipping sauces. I suggest trying them along with Indian masala chai on a Sunday for an Indian afternoon tea- you will love it too!
These can be deep fried, air fried or baked!
I just cannot imagine a curry night without these cauliflower pakoras, tarka dal, naan bread and cucumber raita.
Why you’ll love this Cauliflower Pakora’s?
Budget-friendly: Homemade pakoras are cheap, easy to make, and can be prepared with pantry ingredients.
Ready in 30 minutes: Why make a trip to the supermarket when you can make them at home in just 30 minutes or so? It’s the perfect choice to satisfy your family’s craving for something delicious yet easy to prepare.
Simple and Easy: Simply mix the ingredients and deep-fry them to a golden and crispy perfection. How much easier can pakoras get?
Personal Touch: The recipe is flexible and easy to adapt. Adjust the spices and heat level to your preference.
Dietary Needs: The recipe is suitable for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free diets
Super easy Gobi Pakoras
This recipe is straight forward. All you need to is to prep the cauliflower and Pakora batter separately.
The method is similar to making triple cooked chips. In this case we are using cauliflower. However if you are serving immediately, you only fry them once. But for serving for later, double fry them for maximum crispiness.
Ingredients
You will need the following to make Gobi Pakoras
- Cauliflower: Also popularly known as Gobi. Cut them into medium sized florets to use in the recipe.
- Gram flour – also known as Chickpea Flour or Besan is naturally gluten-free. It has a nutty flavour and is easily available in major supermarkets.
- Rice flour – is optional. If you want extra vegetable pakoras, then do add the rice flour.
- Baking soda: Brings out a lighter texture in the pakoras
- Spices: I like to add turmeric, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, and garam masala.
- Chilli: A mixture of both green chilli and Kashmiri chilli powder can be added to the pakora batter. If you like it less spicy, leave out diced green chilli.
- Herbs: Coriander leaves are delicious in bhajis, so do add them. For a variation you can also add mint leaves, kasuri methi.
- Water: Only add as much as you need to create a single cream consistency.. There is no fixed proportion, but the mentioned quantity is for reference.
- Ginger Garlic: Both add immense flavours to the Cauliflower pakora.
- Salt: to taste.
- Oil: Any neutral flavour oil such as Sunflower oil or Vegetable oil can be used for deep frying.
One simple rule for Pakoras
Prep the ingredients separately. Make sure you prep all the ingredients BEFORE you start! Once you get going with this dish, everything needs to happen quite fast, so you won’t have time to prep as you go along. Heat the oil only when they are ready.
How to Prepare the Cauliflower for Pakoras
Heat water in a pan and add the cauliflower. Bring it a boil, simmer and cook briefly for 3-4 minutes. Check if the cauliflower are fork tender. Drain and set aside. This step is necessary to ensure the cauliflower is cooked well thoroughly and frying time is reduced. However if you wish to skip the parboiling step, you will have to fry the pakode for longer.
Cauliflower Pakora batter
Prepare the fragrant pakora batter with chickpea flour, rice flour, coriander, baking soda, salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala.Add a little water at time and combine with a spoon/ whisk until you have a pancake batter consistency.
Make the Cauliflower Pakoras on the stove
Heat oil over medium flame in a pan or kadai. Test the oil by adding a small portion of the pakora; they should sizzle and come up immediately.
Pick one cauliflower floret at a time, dip in the batter, shake off the excess and add it to the hot oil.
Deep fry for 4-5 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon.
Transfer to a plate lined with paper.
How to make Air fryer Gobi Pakoras?
Very similar to Air fryer Buffalo Cauliflower or Air fryer onion bhaji. Dip the cauliflower in the pakora batter, shaking off the excess. Arrange in the air fryer basket. Spray or Brush oil on the cauliflower florets.
Air fry at 180C / 350F for 12-14 minutes until golden and crispy. Bear in mind the texture will vary from the deep fried pakoras.
How to bake Cauliflower Pakoras?
To oven bake delicious cauliflower pakoras, start by preheating your oven to 200°C (392°F). Coat cauliflower florets in pakora batter, shake off excess, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with oil and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping them a couple of times until they are golden and crispy. Enjoy your homemade baked cauliflower pakoras with your favourite dipping sauce or chutney.
Gobi Pakora Garnish
While you can serve the Cauliflower Pakoras as it is, I recommend sprinkling chaat masala and serve it with a garnish of fresh coriander and sliced onions.
How to keep the Pakoras crispy?
Pakoras are a popular snack in the Indian subcontinent. Keeping them crunchy and crispy can be a bit challenging. But these tips and tricks can help you have crispy pakoras every single time.
- Adding rice flour to the pakora batter enhances the crispiness.
- Double frying the pakoras will leave them crispy for a longer period of time just like triple cooked chips.
- Transfer the fried pakoras to a plate lined with kitchen paper briefly. This absorbs oil, but also leaves the bottom soggy if left on too long. So transfer to a wire rack after 5 minutes.
How to make ahead the cauliflower pakoras?
Prep the cauliflower florets and pakora batter as per the recipe. Deep fry the cauliflower until golden brown. Drain to a kitchen paper. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
Just 10-15 minutes before serving, deep fry again for 2-3 minutes until crispy again.
Serving Suggestions
Serve Gobi pakora with dipping sauces like Ketchup, Green Chutney, Cucumber Raita and Mango Chutney.
As a side for curries like Black Dal, Chana Saag, Split peas Tarka dal and more.
Tuck them in roti with lettuce, green chutney, raita and kachumber salad.
Storing & Reheating
In the fridge: While leftovers are rare with delicious gobi pakoras, if you do have some, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When reheating, use an air fryer at 180°C for 3-4 minutes until they become crispy again. Serve while hot. Avoid reheating in the microwave, as it can make them soft and potentially soggy.
Love Cauliflower recipes, you will also love
Aloo Gobi tray bake
Homemade Vegan Indian Cauliflower Pakora recipe below
Ingredients
For Par-Boiling Cauliflower:
- 1 medium cauliflower head 400-500g, cut into small pieces
- 1 litre water
- 1 teaspoon salt
For Pakora Batter:
- 1 cup chickpea flour gram flour
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (for less spice - use kashmiri chilli powder)
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 green chilli diced(optional)
- Salt to taste
- ¼ - ½ cup water 120ml
- ½ cup fresh coriander leaves chopped
- Sunflower Oil for deep frying
For Garnish (Optional):
- Chaat masala
- Fresh coriander leaves
- Red onion sliced
- Lemon juice
Instructions
Par-Boil Cauliflower:
- Boil cauliflower pieces in water with 1 teaspoon salt for 4 minutes.1 medium cauliflower head, 1 litre water, 1 teaspoon salt
- Drain to a colander and set aside.
Prepare Pakora Batter:
- Mix chickpea flour, rice flour, baking soda, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, green chilli, ginger garlic paste, and salt.1 cup chickpea flour, 2 tablespoon rice flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 inch ginger, 1 green chilli, Salt to taste, ½ cup fresh coriander leaves, 3 cloves garlic
- Add water gradually until it reaches a single cream-like consistency.¼ - ½ cup water
Fry Cauliflower:
- Heat oil in a pan. Dip cauliflower in the batter and deep fry for 4-5 minutes until golden and crispy.Sunflower Oil
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the pakoras and transfer to a paper towels to drain excess oil.
Finish:
- Optionally, sprinkle with chaat masala, coriander leaves, and lemon juice.Chaat masala, Fresh coriander leaves, Lemon juice, Red onion
- Enjoy your crispy cauliflower pakoras with green chutney as a delightful snack or appetiser. Serve hot!
jaccIyn says
batter came out like bread dough! I added water slowly (measured per recipe). I used 1 cup chickpea flour per instructions. Disappointed in recipe.
Sandhya Hariharan says
Hi Jacclyn, it is really simple to adjust the consistency of a pakora batter. Your batter might have needed a little more water than the stated. What also determines this is how new or old your chickpea flour is...
F says
Honestly didn't really like these. The instructions were clear and they were cooked really well, but the raw garlic taste is overpowering and makes them unpleasant to eat
I'd leave the garlic and ginger out completely next time
Sandhya Hariharan says
Thanks for the feedback! Glad the instructions worked well. Ginger and garlic can be adjusted or left out—it’s all about personal taste.