Pudina pakoda aka mint pakoda is a scrumptious and comforting recipe for pakoda which is quite popular in the subcontinents of India. It has got the perfect bite of crisp with refreshing flavour of mint leaves aka pudina. This deep-fried fritter is the amalgamation of chopped mint leaves, chopped coriander leaves, onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, gram flour, rice flour, few spices and seasonings which are mixed and then deep fried in small portions. Pudina pakoda recipe is a perfect companion for evening snacks with a cup of tea and a perfect side with dal, rice and ghee.
Table of Contents
About the recipe
Health Benefits of Pudina
Tips and Suggestions
How to make Pudina pakoda (step wise photos)
Recipe Card
Indian Snack Recipe
Recipe for pakoda plays a major role in Indian Snack recipe. Huge ranges of Indian snacks recipes are fried items and pakora is one of the reliable items among them. Pakoda recipe is basically a deep-fried snack prepared with gram flour, seasoning, spices and different varieties of veggies or herbs. Though pakoda is a very simple dish, but its simplicity makes it more popular among people. Myriad pakoda recipes are prepared and sold in every corner of India everyday by street vendors and snack centres.
Any pakoda recipe has always been one of my favourite Indian snack recipes.I have grown up eating different varieties of these crispy delights. Whenever I talk about any pakoda recipe, I always feel nostalgic. I still remember, how I used to ask my mom to prepare different varieties of recipe for pakoda during monsoon. Nothing can beat the charm of garma garam pakoras with a hot cup of tea on a rainy afternoon. Of course, the addition of little gossips can convert these moments into beautiful memories.
The main hero of the pudina pakoda recipe is this green herb – mint leaves aka pudina, which has the inimitable contribution in Indian culinary to flavour up the dishes. It is one of the most versatile herbs which is used to prepare different varieties of chutneys, beverages, snacks items, rice items and side dishes.
Pudina pakoda recipe is very simple and easy to make. It only requires few handfuls of ingredients to get prepared. It is a perfect recipe for a novice. The best part of the recipe is that it gets prepared very quicky without investing much time.
Pudina pakoda with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instructions’ section. If you follow the steps carefully, you will get the perfect crispy mint fritters. But before directly jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting facts about the key ingredient – Mint leaves aka Pudina and about the recipe.
Benefits of Pudina
- Pudina (Mint) leaves are one of the most useful herbs worldwide. They are used as home remedies from ancient times to fight against many diseases. It has great use in Ayurveda.
- Mint oil is used in toothpastes, chewing gum, mouth fresheners etc. for refreshing breath.
- Pudina (Mint) contains Menthol and it helps to get relief from sore throat.
- It is very good for our digestive system too. It helps to get rid of indigestion and gastric ulcer.
- Pudina leaves have great use especially during summer for its cooling properties.
How to make perfectly crispy pudina pakoda?
Many people face problem to prepare crispy pudina pakoda because they turn soggy. If you take care of few things, then you will get perfectly crispy pakodas.
- Pluck the mint leaves from the stems before chopping. Only use the mint leaves for the recipe.
- After washing the mint leaves and coriander leaves, make them moisture free. It helps to make crispier pakora.
- Use small portion of rice flour with gram flour. It helps to make your pakoda crispy.
- Don’t add water into the batter initially. Add salt and let the mint leaves and coriander leaves release its moisture. After that, only add little water at a time.
- Always deep fry the pudina pakoda. Shallow frying makes the pakoda soft and soggy.
- Fry the pakodas in medium or medium high flame. Don’t fry them in low flame or else the batter will absorb more oil and pakodas will become soggy.
How to make pudina pakoda?
For the pudina pakoda recipe, first pluck the mint leaves from the stem. Wash them thoroughly and then finely chopped them. It gives best texture and better flavour to the mint pakoda.
To enhance the taste, texture and flavour of the pudina pakora, I have added finely chopped onions, ginger garlic paste, chopped coriander leaves and chopped green chillies too. Onions underpower the strong flavour of mint leaves slightly and adds a ting of sweetness into the pakodas. Addition of ginger garlic paste gives a nice flavour to the dish. Addition of green chillies give a heaty touch to the pakodas and addition of coriander leaves enhances the flavour of the pakoda.
Other than these, I have added salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin seeds. All these spices enhance the flavour and taste of the pudina pakoda.
For the pakoda batter, I have used both rice flour and gram flour. Rice flour gives a nice crunch to the pakodas and gram flour provides a nice binding.
First take a large mixing bowl and then add finely chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies, ginger garlic paste and chopped onions, one by one into the bowl. Then add gram flour, rice flour, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin seeds into the bowl and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Cover the bowl and keep it aside for 15-20 minutes to release moisture. Then add little bit of water at a time and make soft but not runny pakoda batter.
Then put a pan on flame and add enough oil to deep fry them. Once the oil is hot, add the pakoda batter in small portions into the pan over medium flame. Fry them till crispy and golden brown in colour. Strain the pakodas and transfer them on a tissue lined plate.
Many pakoda recipes have already been shared in my previous posts. You can check few of them like
Capsicum Bajji
Cabbage Pakoda
Spinach pakoda
Dhaniya patta pakoda
..And Many more…
Ingredients:
1 cup = 250 ml
- 1 cup Mint leaves (Pudina patta), finely chopped
- ¼ cup Coriander leaves (Dhaniya patta), finely chopped
- 1 medium Onion, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste
- 2 green Chillies, sliced
- ½ cup Gram flour (Besan)
- 2 tablespoons Rice flour (Chawal ka atta)
- ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red Chilli powder
- ¾ teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons Water, to prepare the batter
- Oil to deep fry the pakoda
Instructions:
- First pluck the mint leaves from the stem. Wash them thoroughly and then finely chopped them.
- Take a large mixing bowl and then add 1 cup finely chopped mint leaves into it.
- Add ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves, 2 sliced green chillies, 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste and chopped onions, one by one into the bowl.
- Add ½ cup gram flour, 2 tablespoons rice flour, salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ¾ teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds into the bowl and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Cover the bowl and keep it aside for 15-20 minutes to release moisture.
- Add little bit of water at a time and make soft but not runny pakoda batter.I have used 3 tablespoons of water for preparing the batter.
- Put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add enough oil to deep fry the pakodas. Put the flame in high and let the oil become hot.
- Once the oil is hot, put the flame in medium and drop small portions of the pakoda batter slowly into the hot oil with help of your hand or with a spoon. Keep space in between each pakodas. Don’t over crowd the pan.
- Fry them evenly over medium flame for 2-3 minutes from both the sides till crispy and golden brown in colour. Flip the pakodas in between during the time of frying for couple of times.
- Drain the excess oil and transfer the pudina pakoda on to a plate lined with kitchen tissue. The kitchen tissue will absorb the excess oil from the pakodas.
Serving Instruction
Transfer the pudina pakoda recipe on a serving plate. Serve the hot pakoda immediately with some tomato ketchup or chutney with a cup of tea and enjoy your evening snacks.
Ingredients
1 cup = 250 ml
- 1 cup Mint leaves (Pudina patta), finely chopped
- ¼ cup Coriander leaves (Dhaniya patta), finely chopped
- 1 medium Onion, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste
- 2 green Chillies, sliced
- ½ cup Gram flour (Besan)
- 2 tablespoons Rice flour (Chawal ka atta)
- ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red Chilli powder
- ¾ teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons Water, to prepare the batter
- Oil to deep fry the pakoda
Instructions
- First pluck the mint leaves from the stem. Wash them thoroughly and then finely chopped them.
- Take a large mixing bowl and then add 1 cup finely chopped mint leaves into it.
- Add ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves, 2 sliced green chillies, 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste and chopped onions, one by one into the bowl.
- Add ½ cup gram flour, 2 tablespoons rice flour, salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder,½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ¾ teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds into the bowl and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Cover the bowl and keep it aside for 15-20 minutes to release moisture.
- Add little bit of water at a time and make soft but not runny pakoda batter. I have used 3 tablespoons of water for preparing the batter.
- Put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add enough oil to deep fry the pakodas. Put the flame in high and let the oil become hot.
- Once the oil is hot, put the flame in medium and drop small portions of the pakoda batter slowly into the hot oil with help of your hand or with a spoon. Keep space in between each pakodas. Don’t over crowd the pan.
- Fry them evenly over medium flame for 2-3 minutes from both the sides till crispy and golden brown in colour. Flip the pakodas in between during the time of frying for couple of times.
- Drain the excess oil and transfer the pudina pakoda on to a plate lined with kitchen tissue. The kitchen tissue will absorb the excess oil from the pakodas.
KITCHEN TOOLS for the recipe:
Kadai
Wooden Spatula
