Indian · Authentic-ish Indian
Pakora
226 kcal a serving, against 335 for the traditional version. That is 109 kcal off, or 33%, with 21.8g of protein. Serves 6. 40 minutes.
What the traditional version is
A staple street food and restaurant starter. Sliced onion, potato and spinach leaves folded into a thick batter made from gram flour and water, heavily spiced with cumin and chilli. The ragged lumps of batter are deep-fried in vegetable oil until deep golden and shattering crisp on the outside.
What changed, and what each change costs
300g of potato for 400g of diced chicken breast
Potato brings bulk and starch to the bowl but absolutely zero protein. Swapping it for chicken transforms the dish from a heavy carbohydrate snack into a proper, hunger-killing starter. The meat holds its moisture brilliantly inside the batter, preventing the baked version from drying out, and gives you a far better return on the food you eat.
What it costs you. You lose the soft, fluffy interior that a cooked potato gives a classic pakora. Chicken provides a much firmer chew, making the whole thing feel more like a substantial meal than a light, melt-in-the-mouth street food. You also lose the traditional vegetarian status.
Deep frying, which soaks up 96g of oil, for a high-heat bake with just 15g
A commercial deep fryer produces a texture that a domestic oven simply can't match, but the sheer volume of fat absorbed by the batter is astronomical. By tossing the chicken and vegetables in a tiny bit of oil before baking, I get the oven temperature high enough to cook the flour properly without drowning it in grease.
What it costs you. The baked pakora will never possess that perfectly uniform, shattering crunch you get from a vat of boiling oil. The edges will crisp up nicely, but the centre stays slightly softer and the finish is duller, rather than glossy with frying fat. I won't pretend they taste identical.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 335 | 226 |
| Protein | 9.6g | 21.8g |
| Fat | 18.7g | 6.4g |
| Saturated fat | 2.4g | 0.9g |
| Carbohydrate | 32.7g | 19.9g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 2.9g | 9.7g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Indian prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten.
The method is in the book
This is my baked answer to the deep-fried pub classic. Baking a wet batter is always a compromise, and I freely admit you'll miss some of that greasy, shattered crunch. But by packing the mix with chicken breast and aggressively spicing the gram flour, you get a highly savoury, incredibly satisfying starter. It stands up beautifully to a sharp mint dip, costing you a fraction of the heavy frying fats while delivering a massive hit of poultry.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Indian, along with 54 more. Buy the paperback