Mushroom Pakora

About a decade ago, I posted 3 pakora recipes over on Celebration Generation, eventually transferring them here, as they’re all inherently gluten free.

I HAD intended to post a few other pakoras at the time, but kinda dropped the ball. Whoops.

During a recent pakora making marathon, I decided to finally photograph everything and get those new recipes posted.

... and here we are!

If you’ve ever had battered, deep fried mushrooms (a favourite side dish at a fish ad chips house we like!), then this delicious recipe should be right up your alley.

Mushroom pakora -or mushroom pakoda - is battered mushrooms, as you can get them in an Indian restaurant.

Rather than using a wheat flour batter - with or without beer - as the fish and chip places do, this delicious recipe involves a traditional batter made of chickpea and rice flours (gluten free!), with Indian spices.

SO good!

As a bonus, this tasty pakora recipe involves very little in terms of preparation time!

It’s a big flavor and texture payoff, for very little effort.

Let’s get to it!

Ingredients

This recipe uses simple ingredients that should be readily available in most grocery stores.

I have a few ingredient notes for you:

Mushrooms

I like to use crimini mushrooms and button mushrooms for this - one, the other, or (as pictured), half and half.

That said, you can use whatever mushrooms you like, really. Oyster mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms, even shiitake.

You’re basically just making battered, deep fried mushrooms here, so go with whatever you like the flavour / texture of, when cooked.

Flours

Pakoras tend to be inherently gluten free, using a mix of Chickpea Flour / Garbanzo Bean Flour and
White Rice Flour to make the batter, rather than a wheat based - or even GF all purpose flour - at all.

As a note, the bean flour is also called besan, besan flour, and gram flour, when purchased at an Indian or South Asian grocery store.

Both flours should be readily available in the gluten free section of most grocery stores, though!

Spices, etc

I look at this recipe as a base, and tend to add other spices depending on my mood. At the absolute minimum (and it’s a tasty minimum!), I use:

Curry Powder
Cumin Seeds
Ground Coriander

Sometimes I’ll toss in a Tablespoon - or two - of Ginger Garlic Paste, which goes well with the mushrooms.

A bit of Carom Seeds, Turmeric Powder, Garam Masala, Cumin Powder, Chaat Masala, or Tandoori Masala can add some depth of flavour.

If I want to go more spicy, sometimes I’ll finely chop some green chilies ro add to the batter, but I generally prefer pepper powder - Red Chili Powder, Kashmiri Chili Powder, and/or Cayenne Pepper are great options.

Oil for Deep Frying

I like to use vegetable oil for deep frying - it’s cheap, easy to find, and has a nice neutral taste.

That said, any high smoke point oil will work well. Sunflower oil, canola oil, and peanut oil are all good options for deep frying.

Equipment

Beyond the basics - measuring cups, bowls, etc - you’ll want something to fry these in.

Before moving home to Canada - and into a house with a TINY kitchen - I used a regular deep fryer for making pakora.

Now that I no longer have the counter space for that, I just use a heavy bottomed pot.

Because the pot doesn’t have the temperature control/monitoring that an actual deep fryer has, I also use an IR Thermometer .

A candy or deep frying thermometer would also work!

How to Make Mushroom Pakora

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, this is a pictorial walk through with step by step instructions.

Start heating your oil to 350 F – you’ll want at least 2-3″ of oil in your pot or deep fryer.

In a large bowl, combine flours, spices, salt, and baking powder.

Add water, stir well to form a thick batter. Allow batter to sit for 5 minutes or so, to soften the bean flour.

Note: If the pakora batter is too thick, you can add a little water. Use just enough water to make it the consistency of pancake batter.

Fry for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy.

Note: Allow the temperature of the oil to come back up to 350 between batches.

Leftovers

Leftover mushroom pakora can be cooled to room temperature before being transferred to an airtight container an stored in the fridge.

They will keep for around 4-5 days, best when reheated in an air fryer.

More Gluten-Free Indian Recipes

Craving some curry, pakoras, and chutney? I’ve got some delicious Indian Recipes for you!

Aloo Pakora
Butter Chicken
Chicken Pakora
Chicken Shahi Korma
Cilantro Chicken
Cilantro-Mint Chutney
Corn Pakora
Cucumber Raita
Gluten-Free Samosas
Gobi Pakora
Mango Lassi Popsicles
Mixed Vegetable Pakora
Onion Pakoda
Palak Pakoda
Paneer Pakora

... I even have a few diet friendly adaptations on my low carb blog, Low Carb Hoser:

Keto Butter Chicken
Low Carb Chicken Korma
Keto Chicken Biryani
Low Carb Shrimp Curry

Share the Love!

Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!

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