If you are looking for a quick and easy vegetarian appetizer recipe using the Air Fryer, then try this crispy, crunchy Corn Pakoda. An Indian vegetarian appetizer or snack made in an Air Fryer with sweet corn kernels, gram flour and basic Indian Spices. A perfect tea time snack recipe without deep frying or excess oil.
Sweet Corn is everyone's favorite. They are sweet, juicy and tender (especially the fresh ones) and can be added in salads, eaten as grilled corn on cob or delicious Sweet Corn Soup. When in season, I love making these corn fritters or pakodas.
Pakodas or Indian Fritters are quite popular and made in a variety of ways using a variety of ingredients. Seasonal vegetables, herbs etc make the best pakodas that are served with a cup of Masala Chai or Coffee as 4 pm snacks.
Fresh Corn or Sweet Corn is available during Indian Monsoons and they make the best option for pakodas. The best part is with the Air fryer I do not have to worry about the deep frying and excess oil that gets consumed when cooking snack recipes.
Hill stations in the Western part of India such as Mahabaleshwar and Lonavala are popular tourist destination during the weekends especially during winters and monsoon.
Lonavala is the closest to Mumbai and hence we take a drive sometimes for a change just to enjoy some evening tea and snacks.
I first tasted corn pakodas during one of our trips to the hill station and since then have been making them regularly at home when its monsoon and fresh corn is available.
Honestly I used to deep fry these until 2 1/2 years ago but now have completely switched over to the Air Fryer and do not regret it one bit! Frankly, I can have couple of extra pieces without worrying about the excess oil.
Ingredients for Corn Pakoda
- Steamed Corn - I steam the corn with some salt and haldi powder or turmeric for the bright colour pop it lends to the pakoras. When in season, steamed corn is available in my fridge so putting together the pakodas were a matter of minutes.
- Onions - Slice them instead of chopping them for best results. They crisp up and caramelize when air fried.
- Besan or Gram Flour - Always sieve the flour to avoid lumps in pakodas, especially because you are air frying them.
- Brown Rice Flour - Rice Flour adds to the crunch and makes the pakodas light too. If you don't have brown rice flour in your pantry, add regular white rice flour, same quantity as mentioned in the recipe card below.
- Spices - I have used Kashmiri red chilli powder just for the colour. I have added finely chopped green chillies for the heat. You can add either or both according to taste and preference.
- Hing or asafoetida is added in all pakora or Indian Fritter recipes as the batter contains gram flour or besan and hing aids in digestion. For gluten free version of the recipe, please skip this ingredient.
- Coriander leaves finely chopped and curry leaves (which gives a South Indian touch and smells amazing when air fried).
- Water for making a semi thick sticky batter. The batter shouldn't be runny because it will make the air fryer messy because unlike deep frying, flash cooking doesn't happen in air fryer. So the dough should be sticky and thicker which can be pulled into small chunks and placed in the air fryer mesh.
I have NOT used any baking soda or cooking soda for this pakoda recipe. Usually for gram flour fritters, a tiny pinch of soda is added to make it lighter and crispier.
Tip - For all Air Fryer recipes, preheating the fryer is a MUST. While you prep the ingredients, preheat your Air Fryer, apply a layer of oil on the mesh / basket to prevent the food from sticking. If you follow this method, no need of aluminium foil or parchment paper.
Step by Step Corn Pakoda Recipe
In a steel bowl, add sliced onions, curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves and finely chopped green chillies.
In the same bowl, sieve the besan or gram flour, brown rice flour.
Add the steamed corn
Add salt to taste, hing or asafoetida, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
Mix all the ingredients well. By mixing, I mean crushing the onions with your fingers to extract moisture. Follow this process for atleast 3-4 minutes before adding any water to the dough. (Note - See below how the onions have reduced in volume and the besan has absorbed all the moisture)
Now add water slowly and make a sticky dough that can be easily air fried.
Grease the air fryer mesh with some oil and place the pakoras for deep frying.
Lightly brush oil on top and air fry for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 Degrees C. After 5 to 7 minutes, please flip the pakodas so that they cook on both sides. If you feel the pakodas are dry, you can also brush some oil.
Air Fryer Pakodas are ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
- Air Fryer Snacks need to be consumed piping hot. Fried Pakoras cannot be compared to Air Fryer pakoras. They are however, a great way to cut down oil from your diet and a batch of these would hardly require a tbsp of oil.
- You can reheat the pakoras in the air fryer at a lower temperature and by brushing some oil or spraying oil. Ideal temperature would be 150 Degrees C and for 5 minutes.
- Leftover pakoras make a great addition to kadhi or you can simply stock them in the refrigerator, reheat and eat the next day.
- 1/2 cup of Rice flour is added to absorb moisture from both the onions and the steamed corn.
- Other ingredients that can be added - Chopped palak (spinach) leaves and methi leaves would make an amazing choice.
- The Corn Pakoda recipe is Vegan. For a complete gluten free version of the recipe, skip asafoetida or hing. Otherwise both the flours i.e. Rice Flour and Gram Flour are gluten free in nature.
- This batch of pakoda batter yielded around 15 small pieces as shown above. We had a small batch as snack and the rest I used in Kadhi.
Serving Suggestions
- Tomato Ketchup
- Green Chutney
- A Cup of Tea / Coffee is a must
Some Air Fryer Snack Recipes to try
- Air Fryer Onion Pakoda
- Sabudana Vada in Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Roasted Chickpeas
- Air Fryer Jowar Chakli
Corn Pakoda in Air Fryer (Sweet Corn Pakora)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Steamed Sweet Corn
- 1 cup Besan (Gram Flour or Chickpea Flour)
- 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
- 2 nos. Onions sliced
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1/8 tsp Hing or Asafoetida
- 2-3 tbsp Finely chopped coriander leaves
- 1-2 nos. Fresh Green chillies finely chopped
- 2 nos. Curry Leaves sprigs (roughly torn or chopped and added)
- Oil as required to cook the pakodas in Air Fryer
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a steel bowl, add sliced onions, curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves and finely chopped green chillies.
- In the same bowl, sieve the besan or gram flour, brown rice flour.
- Then add the steamed corn, salt to taste, hing or asafoetida, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
- Once all the ingredients are added in the bowl, preheat the Air fryer at 200 degrees C for 5 minutes.
- While the Air Fryer is pre-heating, mix all the ingredients well. By mixing, I mean crushing the onions using your hands to extract moisture. Follow this process for atleast 3-4 minutes before adding any water to the dough.
- Now slowly add water and make a sticky dough that can be easily air fried.
- Grease the air fryer mesh with some oil and place the pakodas for deep frying.
- Lightly brush oil on top and air fry for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 Degrees C. After 5 to 7 minutes, please flip the pakodas so that they cook on both sides. If you feel the pakodas are dry, you can also brush some oil.
- Air Fryer Corn Pakodas are ready to serve.
Notes
- Air Fryer Snacks need to be consumed piping hot. Fried Pakoras cannot be compared to Air Fryer pakoras. They are however, a great way to cut down oil from your diet and a batch of these would hardly require a tbsp of oil.
- You can reheat the pakoras in the air fryer at a lower temperature and by brushing some oil or spraying oil. Ideal temperature would be 150 Degrees C and for 5 minutes.
- Leftover pakoras make a great addition to kadhi or you can simply stock them in the refrigerator, reheat and eat the next day.
- 1/2 cup of Rice flour is added to absorb moisture from both the onions and the steamed corn.
- Other ingredients that can be added - Chopped palak (spinach) leaves and methi leaves would make an amazing choice.
- The Corn Pakoda recipe is Vegan. For a complete gluten free version of the recipe, skip asafoetida or hing. Otherwise both the flours i.e. Rice Flour and Gram Flour are gluten free in nature.
- This batch of pakoda batter yielded around 15 small pieces as shown above. We had a small batch as snack and the rest I used in Kadhi.
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Vidya Narayan