Bread Pakora

A snack from the tea stalls

Bread pakora is a staple of North Indian tea stalls, college canteens and railway platforms, especially in Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. It is also a home favourite on rainy days, when something fried with hot tea is hard to refuse. Stalls make it in a few forms: plain bread dipped and fried, or stuffed with potato, or filled with paneer as a more filling version. This recipe gives the potato-stuffed form with green chutney, which is what most people picture, and it is not far from what a good tea stall will serve you with a small dish of sweet tamarind chutney.

Batter and oil do the work

Bread is a sponge, and the batter is its waterproof coat. A batter that is too thin soaks in and leaves gaps, and the bread drinks oil through every one of them. A batter that is too thick gives a heavy, doughy shell that stays raw on the inside. The spoon test in the method is the one to use: thick enough to coat, slow to fall. Coat the cut edges with special care, as this is where oil gets in.

Oil temperature matters just as much. Around 175 C, the batter sets at once and the steam rising from the bread pushes oil out, so very little comes in. Below 160 C, the batter sits soaking and absorbs fat, while at 190 C and over, the outside browns before the inside has warmed through. A cheap kitchen thermometer takes out the guesswork. Otherwise, use the drop test before each batch, and give the oil a minute to recover between batches.

Frying safely

Keep the kadai on a back burner with the handles turned inwards, and fill it no more than a third deep. Lower each piece in gently and pull your hand back as it enters the oil. Water makes hot oil spit, so have dry hands and a dry slotted spoon. If the oil begins to smoke, turn off the flame and let it cool for a few minutes. In case of a fire, turn off the gas and cover the pan with a lid; never pour water on it. Keep children out of the kitchen while you fry.

Common faults and how to fix them

Oily pakoras are the most common complaint, and a too-cool oil or a too-thin batter is usually to blame. Whisk a spoon or two of besan into the batter, reheat the oil and test again. Pakoras that burst have a stuffing that was too wet or too thick, or sandwiches that were not pressed firmly. Dry the potato mix further in the pan, and keep to a 1 cm layer. If the coating slides off, the bread may be too fresh and damp, so toast the slices lightly on a dry tawa first. A soggy batch can be crisped up in a 180 C oven or air fryer for 5 minutes.

Swaps and a lighter version

Slices of paneer between the bread, or a filling of mashed peas, work well and bring in more protein. For a lighter version, coat the sandwiches as usual and cook on a tawa with 2 tablespoons of oil across the batch, or air-fry them on a lined tray at 190 C for about 12 minutes, turning once, brushed lightly with oil. The result is more like a toasted sandwich and does not have the same crisp shell, so treat it as a different dish rather than a substitute. Anyone avoiding wheat can use gluten-free bread, keeping in mind that some hing powders contain wheat flour too. Small changes like these are what NNWA's healthy eating essentials course is about.

Serving and storing

Serve at once with pudina chutney, a sweet tamarind chutney or plain ketchup, and strong masala chai. If you enjoy this, try related snacks like aloo tikki and samosa, and read the page on pakora for sourced nutrition figures on the plain batter-fried version.

Bread pakora is best in the first 15 minutes. Leftovers go soft as they cool, though you can keep them in the refrigerator for a day and reheat them in a dry pan or at 180 C in an oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Avoid the microwave, because it turns them rubbery. The potato stuffing can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Frying oil should be strained, cooled and used only once more if at all, and it should be thrown away if it has darkened, thickened or smells off.