Pakoras, A Healthy Food Option

Pakora is a famous traditional snack item often serves in iftar or rainy weather along with chai. So basically a pakora is a healthy and very adaptable snack because of its diverse variety such as onion pakora, potato pakora, kadhi pakora, chicken pakora, or mixed vegetable pakora made from a batter of chickpea flour or besan, seasonings, and other ingredients.

Does Eating Pakoras Have Any Benefits? 

Delivers Energy

Besan or chickpea flour is one of the main ingredients used in making pakoras. It is a good source of energy and beneficial for doing energy-required activities. Also, it contains soluble fiber content that helps in reducing bad cholesterol.

Contains Healthy Nutrients

Pakoras include many ingredients in their batter such as onion, potato, chicken, and a variety of green vegetables such as broccoli, peas, spinach, capsicum, and fenugreek that contain and deliver many healthy nutrients such as essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, fiber content that help the body in many ways.

Helps in Weight Loss

Pakoras contain different vegetables and chicken that provide soluble fiber and protein content. High fiber and proteins provide satiety and reduce cravings. It helps you deliver a feeling of fullness for more extended periods that will ultimately prevent binge eating and you will eat only when it is required.

Do You Know What Makes Pakoras Unhealthy?

So what makes pakora unhealthy? Different types of pakoras are healthy options to eat. However, deep frying them can make them unhealthy because it adds unnecessary extra calories and saturated fats to your diet that tend to raise the LDL and lower the HDL in the body. It can lead to various health conditions such as high blood pressure, high risk of CVDs, and stroke.

Moreover, deep-frying the pakoras can cause the loss or change of nutrients. They become loaded with trans-fats from extra frying hence causing a health problem.

What Alternatives For Deep Frying Can We Try?

To avoid deep frying your pakoras, you can either bake them or air fry them. Air frying has become one of the healthiest options recently because it cuts out the majority of unhealthy fats.

Also, you can shallow fry them to dodge deep frying. Shallow frying is also healthier than deep frying as it keeps the fat content to a minimum because of less oil.

And if you are still trying to avoid excess oil but don’t have an oven or air-fryer then you can spray your pan with oil or coat it with a thin layer of oil with an oil-applying brush and cook your pakoras on low flame for a healthy crisp.

Bottom Line

In Ramadan, add healthy pakoras to your iftar rather than restricting them because we all know that without pakoras, the iftar menu is incomplete. By trying out healthy pakoras, essential nutrients will get delivered to your body, and you can continue your weight loss journey while enjoying your favorite iftar food item. So, avoid deep frying your pakoras in excess oil, instead, bake them or air fry them. Or simply shallow-fry them. You can make them in an oil-sprayed pan or apply a thin layer of oil through an oil-applying brush and enjoy your healthy pakoras.

Reviewed by Certified Dietitian