Palak pakoda are crisp and tasty deep-fried spinach fritters made with spinach leaves, gram flour (besan), onion, herbs and spices. A vegan snack recipe. There are basically 2 ways to make them.

• Method 1 – Finely Chopped Spinach Leaves are mixed in the batter and deep fried.
• Method 2 – Each spinach leaf is dipped in a spiced gram flour batter and then deep fried. You get a distinct taste of spinach in the fritters.

Both the methods are easy and the fritters taste good. You can choose the method that you prefer. If you want to disguise the spinach in the fritters for kids who don’t like them, then the first method is for you. However, If you like the taste of spinach in each bite then you will love method 2 as you get crisp fritters full on with flavors of spinach.

This first method of making palak pakoda is from my mom’s collection. These pakoda can be baked too if you don’t want to fry them, with all the goodness of the spinach, sesame seeds and of course chickpea flour.

Winters or monsoon season are the best time to enjoy the pakoras. However at my home, everyone loves Pakoras. Be it summer, rains or winters does not matter to folks who love pakoras – right??? Nothing beats the combination of some garma garam pakoras with some hot tea.

Palak pakora can be served with coriander chutney or mint chutney or tomato ketchup. I served the spinach pakoras with the mint-coriander chutney along with homemade brown bread.

How to make palak pakoda

1. Rinse the palak or spinach leaves very well and finely chop them. Keep aside. You will need 1.5 to 2 cups of finely chopped spinach leaves.

2. Add 1⅓ cup chopped onion, 1 tsp chopped ginger and 1 green chili (chopped).

3. Then add 1 tsp fennel seed powder, ¼ to ½ tsp red chili powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, a pinch of asafoetida (hing) and 1 to 1.5 tbsp sesame seeds.

4. Next add 1 cup besan (gram flour) and salt as per taste. You could also add a pinch of baking soda at this step.

5. Mix all the ingredients very well and keep aside for 5 minutes.

6. Add water in parts. Remember the spinach and onions will release water once they are mixed with salt and the spice powders. So be careful while adding water. Mix the ingredients well and keep aside for 5 minutes. Then add ½ cup of water first. If the batter is still thick then add some more water.

7. Mix very well. Add water as required to make a medium consistency palak pakora batter.

Frying palak pakoda

8. Heat oil in a kadai or pan. When the oil is medium hot, drop spoonfuls of the pakoda batter in the oil.

9. Fry them till they become pale golden. Then turn over and fry the other side.

10. Turn over a couple of times and fry all the pakoda till they are crisp and golden.

11. Remove them with a slotted spoon.

12. Drain the pakoras on kitchen paper towels to remove extra oil.

Serve palak pakoda hot with coriander chutney or mint chutney or tomato ketchup.

Few more Pakora recipes

This post is from the archives and has been republished and updated on 29 May 2020. 

Recipe 2 for Crisp Palak Pakoda

In this recipe each spinach leaf is dipped in a spiced chickpea flour (gram flour) batter and then fried.

The result is a crisp and golden gram flour batter coated spinach fritters that taste awesome with a cup of tea and some green chutney. A vegan tea time snack.

These spinach fritters are very crisp and you get a distinct flavor & taste of spinach in each bite. If you are fond of spinach then you might like this variation of making the fritters.

These palak pakora are served hot with tamarind chutney or cilantro chutney or tomato sauce. They best go with masala tea or ginger tea.

How to make crisp spinach fritters

1. Mix all the ingredients for the batter to a thick smooth consistency.

2. Rinse, drain and pat dry the spinach leaves. If the leaves are very big, you can chop them into two halves.

3. Heat oil till medium hot in a pan or kadai. Dip each leaf into the batter and coat it evenly. Place the batter coated leaf gently in the hot oil.

4. Fry them till golden and crisp. Prepare the remaining fritters in the same way.

5. Drain them on paper towels to remove excess oil.

6. Serve the spinach fritters hot with mint chutney, tamarind chutney or tomato sauce or cilantro chutney or any green chutney. You can also sprinkle some chaat masala on top of the fritters while serving.