Indian Recipes
Bhujia (Potato Fritters)
Thin slices of potato dipped in a spiced gram flour batter and fried until crisp: a favourite street-food snack, also known as aloo bajji or aloo pakora.
- Serves 6
- Prep 20 min
- Cook 20 min
- Indian
Method
Mix the gram flour, cornflour, turmeric, chilli powder, asafoetida, cumin seeds and ¾ teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Whisk in the water a little at a time to make a smooth, thick batter that coats the back of a spoon, like double cream. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the potatoes into rounds about 3 mm thick. Put them in a bowl of cold water as you go, then drain and pat completely dry with a clean tea towel.
Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pan or wok to 180 °C (a drop of batter should rise to the top straight away and sizzle). Never fill the pan more than a third full.
Dip the potato slices into the batter a few at a time, let the excess drip off and lower them carefully into the oil. Fry in small batches for 3–4 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp and the potato is tender inside.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, with mint and coriander chutney or tomato ketchup.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
Chef’s notes
- Hot oil is dangerous: use a deep pan, keep children away and never leave it unattended. Let the oil cool completely before disposing of it.
- Only a little of the oil is absorbed; the cost includes the whole litre.
How this recipe was developed
The old Cookeryonline page reproduced a published recipe, so we wrote a new one. We based this on the popular South Indian potato bajji and its North Indian cousin, the aloo pakora.
- Thin, dry slices. Hebbar’s Kitchen slices the potato thinly, soaks it to remove excess starch and rubs it dry so the batter clings.
- A little extra starch. Hebbar’s Kitchen adds rice flour to the gram-flour batter and suggests cornflour to keep the fritters crisp for longer; we use cornflour, which is easier to find in the UK.
- Medium-hot oil. Hebbar’s Kitchen fries on a medium flame so the fritters are crisp, not oily; 180 °C is our equivalent.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 31 October 2026):
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.