Chilli Pakora

A delicious spicy Indian appetizer…

Ready for pure spicy happiness? That’s chilli pakura – an Indian spicy appetizer featuring a deep fried green chili, and – in this instance – stuffed with a delicious potato stuffing. Try it as either a starter or simply as a delicious exotic snack.

In this recipe, the spiciness comes from both the fresh chili used, as well as a decent helping of red chili powder. You can move up or down the pepper scale by being specific about the chili powder used. Opt for a mild paprika for a less spicy evening. Cayenne pepper (or a hot paprika) brings a certain pop to the dish. Or, move right up to crushed Thai pepper for some serious extra kick. 

Chilli Pakora

Chilli Pakora

5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 5-6 large green chili peppers sliced open lengthwise, with membrane and seeds removed.
  • Vegetable oil for frying

For the batter:

  • 1 cup garbanzo bean flour
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon carom seeds
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder paprika, cayenne, Thai
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the potato stuffing:

  • 3 potatoes medium-sized, peeled and chopped into small cubes
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon hing
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder paprika, cayenne, Thai all work, depending on your spice tolerance
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

Make the potato stuffing

  • In a frying pan over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil, then add the cumin seeds, hing, ground turmeric, and potatoes. Stir often while cooking the potatoes. Add salt and pepper to the potatoes while cooking for approximately 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
  • Add the red chili powder of your choice, ground coriander, sugar, garam masala, and lime juice. Stir the potato stuffing to fully coat the potatoes and finalize and needed softening to the potatoes. Then remove from heat.

Stuff the chili peppers

  • Cut the chili pepper lengthwise and remove the membrane and seeds.
  • Stuff the chili peppers with the potato stuffing.

Make the batter

  • In a large bowl, combine the garbanzo bean flour, chili powder, carom seeds, salt, and water. Stir to incorporate all of the ingredients into a batter. And more water as needed to loosen the batter to a consistency that can be used for coating.

Make the chilli pakora

  • Heat enough vegetable oil in a pot that would allow for full submersion of the chili pepper.
  • Dip each stuffed chili pepper into the batter, fully coating it.
  • Place the coated chili pepper into the oil and fry it until it's golden brown.
  • Remove the chili pepper from the oil and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Then repeat the process with the additional stuffed chili peppers.
  • Serve.

Notes

For the red chili powder, consider the heat-level you desire:
Mild: Paprika (use generic paprika, not hot paprika)
Medium: Cayenne pepper powder (or hot paprika)
Hot: Thai pepper powder
Did you make this?Mention @PepperScale or tag #PepperScale so we can see what you made!
5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)
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