Paneer Pakoda I Paneer Pakora Recipe

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Pakora is popularly prepared Indian snacks which are almost everyone’s favourite. When it comes to vegetarian meals, Indian cuisines has such high variety that is unimaginable. All you need for paneer pakora is just a few basic ingredients and each of which is easily available in any Indian kitchen. A cup of tea is considered incomplete without accompaniments. A plate full of paneer pakora goes best with tea and is easy on our tummy and quite delectable.

Pakoda or Pakoras are basically oil fried fritters which you can make with a wide range of vegetable, panner and chicken too. It has to be crisp, hot and golden brown. On a rainy day pakoda or pakora taste divine with a cup of “Kadak Chai” (Strong Tea).

I am an unplanned cook. Most of the time I follow my whims or my instant mood. I have this sudden urge to eat something, I go to the kitchen, check whatever supplies I have and try to cook with that. Somedays I see very delicious food post uploaded in Instagram or Facebook and I want to cook it immediately. You can say I am quite an impulsive cook. And I like it that way. I don’t follow too much of technicalities, what matters to me is the taste.

Cabbage, onion, potato, palak, chicken, paneer, you can prepare Pakoda with these ingredients as the base. Then to it is added Besan, flour/cornflour, baking powder,  turmeric, chilly powder, salt. These are the basic ingredients you need in a paneer pakora recipe. To it, you can keep on adding other ingredients as per your requirement.

I generally use mustard oil for frying but sometimes refined oil too should be used. These days so many new machines such as air fryer have come up but nothing can beat the smell of freshly fried Pakoda in sorsho tels in a Kadai (mustard oil in a wok). Paneer Pakora or to say any pakora tastes best when served with green chutney made from coriander and mint or tomato ketchup. Or else a dollop of Mustard sauce (Kasundi) can take the Paneer Pakoras to a whole new level.

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How to make Paneer Pakora / Paneer Pakora Recipe

Ingredients Required

• Paneer /Cottage cheese – 100 gms
• Besan – One cup
• Refined Flour/ Maida or Cornflour
• Turmeric powder, Red Chilly Powder, Baking Powder
• Kalijeera /Kalonji (Nigella Seeds)
• Salt
• Water to make the batter
• Oil for frying

Step by Step method of Paneer Pakora Recipe

For this Paneer Pakora recipe, you need just a few basic ingredients as given above. The recipe is also quite simple and the ingredients are easily available in your kitchen. Since I am making just for two people I have taken 100 grams of Paneer or cottage cheese. You can always increase the quantity depending on the servings.

Cut the paneer into small cubes or squares or you can make it triangle shaped too. I suggest don’t keep it too thick or too small. Make sure that the size is proportionate.

Take a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup besan. two tablespoons of Flour or Cornflour. I have used flour or maida since maida is most readily available in my kitchen. Half teaspoon Kalonji (Kalijeera / Nigella Seeds), half teaspoon Turmeric Powder, half Teaspoon Chilly Powder, half Teaspoon Baking Powder, salt according to your taste.

You can also add fennel seeds or ajwain to it if you don’t have Kalijeera at home. It’s to add that extra flavour and trust me both works great.

Add water slowly and make sure the consistency of the batter doesn’t get too runny. Mix all the ingredients properly and make sure there are no lumps. The batter should be thick and free-flowing. The consistency should be such that it coats the panner well.

Take a Kadai/ wok, heat it well, Pour one cup oil or as per your requirement and let it heat gently. You can use mustard oil or refined oil. Make sure that the quantity of oil in the Kadai is enough for deep frying the Paneer pieces.

 Now dip the Paneer pieces one by one, check whether it’s being coated properly. Fry it in batches by stirring occasionally on medium flame until it’s crisp and golden brown. Let it rest for some time and sprinkle some chaat masala before you serve.

This is one of the easiest Paneer Pakora recipes which you can try preparing with your kids. You can possibly prepare any kind of pakodas just with this simple basic recipe. Make sure to enjoy it with your masala chai. Hope you liked the post. So share it with your loved ones.

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