Chickpea Fritters / Chana Pakoda (Air Fryer, Stove top)

Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena

PrepTime:15 mins   CookTime:15 mins   Cuisine:Indian

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Table of Contents⇓    RecipeCard⇓

Pakoda / Pakora / Fritters are the easy and quick answer for satisfying our hunger pangs during tea time or as a treat for sudden guests. My kids especially love to have this as an evening treat.

Who doesn’t love Onion Pakoda?! They are a regular visitor in my kitchen. But, I often feel guilty eating them frequently, as they are fried in oil, so I  thought of making it nutritious by adding protein & fibre to it.  

For an even healthier version, I attempted them in my Air-Fryer, to avoid the oil. And I have to say I loved the Air fryer pakoda more than the stove-top ones.

Here comes the Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten free, Protein & Fibre Rich recipe! 

Table of Contents:

Click to Expand / Collapse

1. Possible alterations for the recipe, ‘Chickpea Fritters / Chana Pakoda’:
2. Other recipes from my blog:
3. Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Chickpea fritters / Chana Pakoda (Air fryer & Stove top)’:
4. Prep Work:
   1. To ‘SOAK’ the dry chana / chickpeas:
   2. Stove Top Method to Boil Chickpeas:
   3. Instant Pot Method to Boil Chickpeas:
   4. Using Canned / Tinned Chickpeas:
5. To Make the Pakoda Batter:
6. Stove Top Frying Chickpea Fritters:
7. Air Frying Method Chickpea Fritters:
8. Tips & Storage:
9. Result:
10. Recipe Card & Print:

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Possible alterations for the recipe, ‘Chickpea Fritters / Chana Pakoda’:

Using tinned / canned garbanzo beans: Store bought canned chickpeas can be used too. While using them, I added the water in the can, to mix the batter. Which worked well to give that crunchy texture. And not to waste the water. 

To mash the boiled chickpeas, you need not use a blender / grinder. Just use a potato masher or the back side of a ladle would do too.

Other ingredients to add: Adding a ¼ cup of green peas along with the chickpeas gives it a sweeter taste to the pakoda.

Adding ginger-garlic: Try adding a tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste in the place of freshly chopped ginger & garlic.

Other spice powders to add: You might add ½ teaspoon of Indian Curry powder, as an alternative to curry leaves. If not just skip altogether.

Well before frying, at once, make the batter into tiny ball shapes, frying them at once would be more easy.

Other recipes from my blog:

Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips mentioned at the end.

Air-Fryer recipes collection⇒  Air – Fryer Recipes

Starter / Appetiser recipes collection⇒   Starters / Snacks

Daily Thali(s) collection⇒  Bhojanam / Thali / Meal Platter

Related Posts with ‘CHICKPEAS’:

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Ingredients:

• Chickpeas / Chana – 1 cup (boiled)
• Besan / Chickpea Flour / Gram Flour – ¼ cup
• Rice Flour / Biyyappindi – 2 tablespoons
• Onions – 1 (finely chopped)
• Green Chillies – 3
• Chopped Fresh Ginger – 1 tablespoon
• Fresh Coriander Leaves – 2 tablespoons (chopped)
• Curry Leaves – 10 (chopped) (optional)
• Turmeric Powder – ¼ teaspoon
• Red Chilli Powder –  ¼ teaspoon
• Salt – ½ teaspoon / as per taste 
• Cooking Oil – 2 cups (for stove-top method)
•    ”          ”      – 2 teaspoons (for air-fryer method)

Special Ingredients:

• Rice Flour / Biyyappindi
• Chopped Fresh Ginger
• Onions

Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Chickpea fritters / Chana Pakoda (Air fryer & Stove top)‘:

Prep Work:

To ‘SOAK’ the dry chana / chickpeas:

• Take 1 cup of dry chickpeas into a wide vessel, wash them thoroughly. Add water, 4 times the quantity of beans.
• Leave the vessel on kitchen platform, let the chickpeas soak for 8 hrs/overnight.
• Strain the soaked water before cooking.

Stove Top Method to Boil Chickpeas:

• on STOVE TOP vessel:Take the soaked chickpeas into a sauce pan, add double quantity of water. Close with lid. Let them cook on stove-top medium flame until they soften (might take 30 to 40 mins).
• on STOVE TOP PRESSURE COOKER: Take them into the cooker. Add 3 cups of water.
• Close the lid, put the whistle ON, let it cook for 5 whistles. Open only when the pressure is released.

Instant Pot Method to Boil Chickpeas:

• Take the soaked chickpeas into the Instant Pot. Add 3 cups of water.
• Close the lid, turn the valve to SEALING, and set the mode to PRESSURE COOK under HIGH PRESSURE for 4 mins (or) else BEAN / CHILI mode. Release the pressure naturally (NPR).
• Transfer all the boiled chickpeas into a separate bowl.

Using Canned / Tinned Chickpeas:

If you are using canned (or) already cooked chickpeas, ignore all the above ‘PREP WORK’ steps, and proceed with the recipe from here.

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Boiled Chickpeas taken into wide a mixing bowl. Without adding any water, Grind them coarsely using a processor/grinder.

To Make the Pakoda Batter:

Now, add all the rest of the ingredients (except cooking oil) into the same bowl.

Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of water as needed. Gently mix up everything and make the batter ready. 

Stove Top Frying Chickpea Fritters:

Put a deep frying pan on stove top, add the 2 cups of oil, let it heat on high flame.

Gently drop small blobs of batter into the oil, let them fry on both sides until they turn golden brown.

Air Frying Method Chickpea Fritters:

Brush the mesh of air-fryer with oil / use an oil-spray throughout. Place the small blobs of the batter over it.

Cook for 7-8 mins on one side, at 200ºC / 390ºF .

Gently flip each to the other side, give a bit of oil-spray and fry for 2-3 mins more, at same temperature. Done!!

Showing chickpea fritters / chana pakoda made in STOVE-TOP on left side and in AIR-FRYER on the right side.

Tips & Storage:

• Add the ingredients in the list, as per your availability.
• Adjust the salt and spice as per your taste.
• For air-fryer method, the batter mix has to be thick. Be careful while adding water to the batter. I just added 2-3 tablespoons.
• But for stove-top method, the batter can be in flowing consistency as well.
• The oil for deep frying must be perfectly hot, to test this just drop a small blob of batter into the oil and check .
• Storage: You can store the batter in the refrigerator/freezer and fry them when needed. But remember to thaw the batter at least for 1 to 2 hrs before usage.
• The fried fritters / pakoda stay good for up to 2 days at room temperature (or) can be stored in fridge but are to be reheated in microwave before serving.

Result:

• These, chickpea fritters / chana pakoda (air fryer & stove top), both versions are crispy on the outside and soft from inside.
• Its a protein packed crunchy appetiser suitable to satisfy your afternoon hunger pranks in a healthy way. 
• We had them along with sliced raw onions & fried green chillies, for additional spice.

Recipe Card & Print:

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