Fish pakora is one of the best Indian snacks of street food. Golden brown fish, deep fried with the marinade of Indian spices and gram flour (besan) makes a perfect flavor to serve with chutney or tartar sauce. Crispy and crunchy from the outside, tender and juicy from the inside will tempt you to eat without stopping hands.
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What is Fish Pakora?
Fried Fish Pakora is one of the famous Indian fish fritters that people love to have as a snack or appetizer. This handheld boneless fish pakora gives you the best option to eat fish. People from Punjab, Amritsar, and Lahore (Pakistan) are famous to make the best fish pakora and it is also considered as the famous street food. The stunning aroma of fried pakoras tempts you to eat and believe me the first bite of pakora with green chutney will make you fall in love with this special fish recipe.
Pakora is a popular Indian fritter that can be prepared with veggies, and different meat. People love to have onion pakora, vegetable pakora, laccha pakora, paneer pakora, and in meat chicken pakora and fish pakora are so popular as it gives the best taste after frying with gram flour batter.
In South Asia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal makes a variety of pakoras based on people's taste. In the Middle-eastern region, Pakora is also getting famous as most of the Indian and Pakistani community introduced this recipe that has been loved by everyone. As I am living in UAE, Dubai so I saw many Arab people also familiar with the taste of Pakora especially served in Ramadan during Iftar. Anyways, if you haven’t tried it then give it a try and I am sure these handheld bite-size pakoras will not stop you to eat as it’s so tasty and delicious.
Pakora and rain are associated with each other. In the monsoon season, I always love to make different styles of pakoras to serve with tea. It is also associated with childhood memories as my mother used to make pakora and samosa as the raindrops pour down. In Ramadan, I love to make fish pakora for Iftar as it's nutritious and healthy to eat.
Best Fish For Pakora
You can make pakora with any fish that you like but make sure to debone it before making. I personally love to use fish fillets as it's simple and easy to handle at home. Salmon and whitefish are good to make fish pakora. Avoid fishes with bones as it gives hard time to eat.
How To Cut Fish For Pakoras
First, check the fish if there is any bone then take it out. Normally the bone exists in middle to take out that part from a sharp knife and cut the fish accordingly. To make fish pakora, it’s recommended to make small pieces of fish as it makes a perfect taste that is crispy from the outside, tender, and juicy to eat.
- Fish Cubes: Cut the fish into small cubes. Make uniform pieces to make it more presentable after frying.
- Finger Cutting: Most of the street food vendors makes a finger cut that makes it super perfect to fry pakora.
Secret Ingredient
The secret ingredient to make tasty fish pakora is carom powder which is locally called ajwain powder. It will add a unique aroma and taste to fish. So don’t avoid it!
Enjoy this Healthy fried fish pakora recipe with green chutney. So quick and easy fish recipe that you can serve as a snack with party food. Share with your friends and family, they will surely love it!
Ingredients & Substitutions
How to Make Fish Pakora
Fish Deboning:
Start with deboning the fish. I used 2 whitefish fillets and cut them in a form of small cubes. Salmon fillets can also be used to make tasty fish pakora. Place the fish in a deep bowl for marinate.
Seasoning & Marinade
Now season the fish with salt, red chili powder, garam masala, chaat masala, cumin, and carom (ajwain) powder. Squeeze a fresh lemon and gently toss the fish. Leave the marinade for 30 minutes to absorb the spices and penetrate the citric flavor of lemon in the fish to make it tastier.
Gram Flour Batter
After 30 minutes, add gram flour and rice flour and mix it well. (To make extra crispy, you can also add corn flour). Now mix it well without water. If it’s too dry then add little water otherwise don’t use water. We need the sticky and consistent batter to fry crispy fish pakora. If it’s runny then the fish will break and the texture that you want will not come up.
Deep Frying
Now the fish is ready to deep fry! Monitor the oil temperature before frying. Initially fry at high heat as it gets crispy then turn the fish and cook from all sides until it gets golden brown color.
Taking Out From Oil
Squeeze the oil with spoon while taking out the fish from the oil as it will keep it extra crispy for a long time. Keep on absorbent paper and don’t cover to avoid sogginess.
How to Make Fish Pakora in Air Fryer
If you don’t want to deep fry the fish pakora then fry it in the air fryer and it will give you crispy pakora with less oil.
To make fish pakora in the air fryer, place an aluminum foil in the air fryer tray/basket and spray with oil to grease it properly. Now place the fish pakora cubes on foil and spray the oil again over the pakoras as it will help to make crispy pakora while air frying. You can use any vegetable or sunflower oil. Close the fryer and cook for about 20 minutes at 280F. After 10 minutes, flip the pakoras and cook from the other side. Once ready, serve with your favorite sauce or dip.
Watch Recipe
Don't forget to check out the detailed Recipe card or watch the video!
Don't Forget to Watch: Shish Tawook | Chicken Spring Rolls
Expert Tips
- Use fish without bone. If you have fish with bones then make it boneless before marination.
- Salmon, whitefish, and Tilapia are good as I have tried with these fish to make pakoras.
- Fish are delicate so gently toss the fish in marination.
- Use gluten free rice flour (white or brown) to make it crunchy from outside.
- You can also use corn flour to make it extra crispy from outside.
- Use fresh chickpea flour as it makes a perfect taste after frying pakoras.
- Don’t over spice!
- Monitor the temperature while frying. Initially fry at high temperature and then turn to medium until get golden brown color.
- Avoid overcrowding the fish while frying otherwise it will break into pieces.
- When taking out, try to squeeze the oil as it will leave the fish pakoras crispy for long time. You can see how I took out from oil in video recipe.
- It’s eggless and gluten free fish pakoras. If you are using corn flour then make sure to use gluten free.
- Secret ingrdients to make tasty fish pakora is carom powder which is locally called ajawain powder. It will add a unique aroma and taste in fish. So don’t avoid it!
SEE ALSO: Pan Fried Eggplant
Variations
To make it more nutritious, add some veggies like onion, small cubes of potatoes, or green herbs in the marinade.
Serving Idea
Fish pakora comes in a category of snack or appetizer so you can serve it with any sauce, dip, or chutney. Traditionally, it’s been served with green chutney and imli ki chutney but you can also serve with simple ketchup. You can also serve it with Tarter sauce as it makes a perfect taste with seafood. If you like sweet flavor then give it a try with honey garlic sauce!
To make a perfect plater, you can also add French fries, roasted veggies, sauces, and salad.
Q & A
You can use it but I recommend to not use. It will work as a tenderizer and it will be difficult to manage the fish while frying as it may break.
Make sure the fish is properly battered in gram flour before frying. Only stir the fish in oil when it shows a crispy texture. Fish is delicate to handle gently.
Avoid frying at ultra-high temperature as it will cook from outside and remain raw from inside. To properly cook the fish pakora, initially cook at a high temperature (220°C) and as it gets crispy texture then turn the heat to medium and fry it until it shows golden brown color.
These fish pakoras are eggless. You can add egg to make it healthy and bind the batter in a consistent manner. Here I used water-free batter which is sticky and consistent to grip the fish while frying. Egg makes the frying foamier so to avoid that I didn’t use egg
More Pakora Recipes
Chicken Pakora | Kadhi Pakora | Crispy Pakora (Aloo, Onion & Laccha)
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Fish Pakora Recipe
Equipment
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 300 g White Fish (Boneless)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1.5 teaspoon Chaat Masala
- ½ teaspoon Cumin + Carom seeds Powder (Zeera + Ajwain)
- 1 teaspoon Grated Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Grated Ginger
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ¼ cup Gram Flour
- 2 tablespoon rice flour gluten free
- 2 cups Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Place fish cubes in a deep bowl.
Prepare Seasoning
- Season with salt, red chili powder, garam masala, chaat masala, cumin powder, carom powder, grated garlic and ginger.
- Squeeze fresh lemon juice.
- Give it a good mix with gentle hand as the fish is delicate.
- Leave it at warm place for marination for about 30 minutes.
Coating
- After 30 minutes, add gram flour and rice flour on fish and toss it again. If the mixture is dry then add little water otherwise don’t use water. Make a sticky and consistent batter which should not be runny.
Deep Frying
- Preheat the vegetable oil in a deep wok on medium temperature.
- Deep fry the fish cubes from all sides until it get golden brown color.
- Properly squeeze the oil while take out from oil. Keep on absorbant paper to make it crispy for a long time.
- Sprinkle chaat masala and serve with your favorite chutney or sauce.
Video
Notes
- Use fish without bone.
- If you have fish with bones then make it boneless before marination.
- Salmon, whitefish, and Tilapia are good as I have tried with these fish to make pakoras.
- Fish are delicate so gently toss the fish in the marination.
- Use gluten-free rice flour (white or brown) to make it crunchy from outside.
- You can also use cornflour to make it extra crispy from outside.
- Use fresh chickpea flour as it makes a perfect taste after frying pakoras.
- Don’t over spice!
- Monitor the temperature while frying. Initially fry at high temperature and then turn to medium until getting golden brown color.
- Avoid overcrowding the fish while frying otherwise it will break into pieces
- When taking out, try to squeeze the oil as it will leave the fish pakoras crispy for a long time.
- It’s eggless and gluten-free fish pakoras. If you are using cornflour then make sure to use gluten-free.
- The secret ingredient to make tasty fish pakora is carom powder which is locally called ajwain powder. It will add a unique aroma and taste to fish. So don’t avoid it!
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