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These Baked Pakora are every bit as crispy and delicious as restaurant-style Onion bhajis just baked instead of fried! Make them as an appetizer for an Indian dinner or as a party or TV snack.
These Crispy Baked Onion Pakora (Onion Bhaji) are an easy alternative to the widely loved Indian fried onion snack and taste just as delicious as any restaurant-style bhaji! They’re just how we like them – crispy and packed with Indian spices and that addictive sweetness and umami from the onions! No greasy fingers afterwards and your tummy will also be less rumbly.
More veggie snacks and appetizers from the blog
- Zucchini Carrot Chickpea Fritters
- Baked Broccoli Pakora
- Apple Fritters
- Baked Dal Samosa.
- Cajun Chickpea fries
- Garlic Fries
Baked Onion Pakora/ bhajji
Ingredients
- 2 cups thinly sliced onion, red onion works best, separated out so that they don't clump together
- 1/3 cup chickpea flour, , plus 1 tbsp if needed, if using besan, you will need 2-3 tbsp more
- 2 tablespoons rice flour
- 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1-2 green chilies, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne or Indian red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Generous pinch baking soda
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add onions to a large bowl and separate.
- Add in all the spices, salt, chickpea flour and rice flour and baking soda .
- Sprinkle in the oil and mix in.
- Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. The onion will leak some moisture and that will help you determine how much moisture you need.
- Add in water, just a little bit at a time so that you get a pasty pakora mix. It's not going to be a bowl of batter, it's going to be like onion rings with the onions covered with a layer of batter. If you like more coverage, add in 1-2 tbsp more chickpea flour and a sprinkle in water.
- Take spoonfuls of this mixture and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. You want to make small to medium sized pakoras and not too huge so that there aren’t too many thick clumps of onion. Then bake at 400 degrees F (205 C) for 20 to 25 minutes. You want to keep an eye on them and check after about 17-18 minutes to see that they're baking ok and not burning. Move the sheet around at that time that you check and then continue to bake. You can also brush some oil on the pakoras after the 18 minute mark.
- Once the pakoras are cooked, let them cool for a few minutes. You can serve onion bhaji with ketchup, vegan cucumber raita, mint chutney coconut chutney, tamarind chutney
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients
- onion – slice them thinly and use red onion for the best flavor.
- a mix of chickpea flour and rice flour makes these extra crisp
- minced ginger along with green chilies, turmeric, and red chili powder for that authentic Indian taste.
- salt – super important.
- baking soda for lightening up the batter
- oil – we need a bit of fat for flavor and better texture but these are way lower in fat than the fried version.
Tips:
- You can make these adding some spiralized carrots but I do not recommend any juicy vegetables for the baked kind. Those do better fried.
- When prepping the onion, make sure you separated out so that they don’t clump together. I like cutting them with a mandoline but a spiralizer would probably work really well too.
- If you want, you can add some chopped curry leaves or ground cumin to the batter.
- To keep them nice and crisp, let them cool on a wire rack. This doesn’t let the fritters collect the steam and keeps them crisp and fresh for long.
- You could sprinkle them with a bit of chaat masala just before serving to enhance the taste.
How to Baked Onion Pakoras in the oven:
Add onions to a large bowl and separate. Add in all the spices and salt and chickpea flour and rice flour and baking soda.
Sprinkle in the oil and mix in. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. The onion will leak some moisture and that will help you determine how much moisture you need.
Add in water, just a little bit at a time so that you get a pasty pakora mix. It’s not going to be a batter, it’s going to be like onion rings with the onions covered with a layer of batter.
Take spoonfuls of this mixture and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet while. You want to make small to medium-sized pakoras and not too huge so that you don’t have too many thick clumps of onion.
Then bake at 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes. You want to keep an eye on it after about 17-18 minutes to see that they’re baking ok and not burning. Move the sheet around at the time that you check and then continue to bake. You can also brush some oil on the pakoras after the 18-minute mark. Once the pakoras are cooked, let them cool for a few minutes.
What to serve with Onion Pakora?
You can serve onion bhaji with vegan cucumber raita, mint chutney or coriander chutney, coconut chutney, tamarind chutney or a simple avocado dip. Are they also delicious with ketchup? You betcha!
These turned out delicious (and I forgot the baking soda). I was worried they wouldn’t hold together when I put them on the baking sheet, but they came out of the oven in-tact! I added some ribbons of carrots to the mix and served with a cilantro-mint chutney. I could only find a fava bean/chickpea flour blend but it seemed to work. I’ll definitely make these again: easy, flavorful, and a healthy alternative to fried pakoras.
sounds like a nice chutney
is one serving one pakoda?
depends on the exact size that you make them into – but approx 1.5 pakoda = 1 serving
This was great!
Excellent
Can these be made ahead of time and frozen before baking?
it’s not advisable – when the batter thaws it will probaly run off and not stick
Is it possible to prepare the batter in the morning and leave on counter, and pop into oven for guests expected to show up at chai time? What’s the optimal time between popping into oven and serving for crispness?
I would store it in the fridge and bring out of fridge 20 min before baking – and since they’re baked, not fried, they should be served immediately for the most crispy.
These were amazing!
Yay
We have made these on 2 consecutive days, such a big hit!! First day we used red onions, added garlic powder and baked in the oven. Second day had to use white onions as we had used all the red! Omitted the oil and cooked these in my air fryer. Both methods and onions worked beautifully. Thank you for sharing Richa.
excellent – thank you!
Could Almond Flour be used to make this low-carb
instead of both the rice & chickpea flours?
Fantastic and easy, another winner
thank you Anne
Definitely going to give this a try. Do you think that leaving the oil out would make a big difference? Or maybe cutting it in half?
It will be dry. If you are accustomed to baking without then it might be ok for you. For me it feels too dry without oil