Before You Start
Think of bread pakora as a sandwich that has been dressed for the tea stall. A layer of seasoned potato goes between two slices of ordinary bread, the whole thing takes a dip in gram flour batter, and a few minutes in hot oil turn it golden and crunchy on the outside while the middle stays soft, steaming and full of flavor. You will find it at roadside tea stalls and in home kitchens across North India, and it is especially welcome on a cold afternoon. It is also a useful way to turn a packet of plain sliced bread into something with a good deal more substance than toast.
Where This Dish Comes From
Compared with pakoras made from vegetables, bread pakora is a latecomer. It needed sliced white bread to become an ordinary household item first, and in India that happened over the course of the twentieth century, as bakeries and packaged loaves spread through the cities. It is linked most closely with the tea stalls and home kitchens of Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, although other regions have stuffed and fried bread snacks of their own with different names and fillings. The dish combines a newly common staple, bread, with a long-established method, dipping in pakora batter and frying. For that reason it illustrates how Indian street food keeps taking in new ingredients and fitting them into familiar techniques, and why it is better seen as a living tradition than a fixed, closed one.
Step by Step
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Prep
Season the potato filling
In a bowl, work the mashed potato together with the green chilli, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, roasted cumin, amchur, coriander and salt until the seasoning is spread through evenly. Taste it. The filling has to speak up by itself, because both the bread and the batter around it are fairly mild, so add more salt or spice now if it seems timid.
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Prep
Build the sandwiches
Take a slice of bread and spread a generous, even layer of filling over it, going all the way to the edges. Lay a second slice on top and press down lightly so the two stick together, then cut the sandwich on the diagonal into two triangles. Do the same with the rest of the bread and filling.
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Prep
Whisk the batter
Combine the gram flour, rice flour, chilli powder, turmeric, ajwain, baking soda and salt in a bowl and add the water a little at a time, whisking, until the batter is smooth and medium-thick. It should coat the back of a spoon completely. Make it a bit thinner than the batter for mixed-vegetable pakoras, because here it has to cover flat surfaces evenly instead of clinging to loose pieces.
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Cook
Dip the triangles and fry
Bring the oil to 170°C (340°F). Pick up a triangle carefully, so the filling stays put, and lower it into the batter. Turn it until the cut edges and both faces are covered, then slip it into the oil. Fry 2 to 3 pieces at a time, turning once, for about 3 to 4 minutes in all, until every side is crisp and deep golden.
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Cook
Drain and let them settle
Lift the pakoras out with a slotted spoon and set them on a wire rack. The bread inside soaks up heat and steam as it fries, so wait a minute before serving. That pause lets the center settle down, instead of being scalding hot and mushy right in the middle.
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Serve
Eat them while they are hot
Bread pakora is at its best straight away, when the coating still crunches and the filling is hot. Put out tomato ketchup, tamarind chutney or mint-coriander chutney for dipping.
Swaps That Work
Any plain sliced loaf will do, whole wheat included. A slice that has gone slightly stale holds up better than a very fresh, soft one, which can tear when you dip it. Some cooks add a thin layer of grated cheese to the filling. If you want something simpler still, replace the potato altogether with a thin smear of green chutney.
Turning the Heat Up or Down
Since the filling and the batter are both seasoned, it is easy to end up with a snack hotter than you meant if each is at full strength. Consider keeping the batter mild, even leaving out its chilli powder, when the filling is already bold, or the other way round. Fresh green chilli in the filling gives the most noticeable heat and is the simplest thing to adjust. For heat and tang without touching the potato, spread a thin layer of green chutney on the bread before adding the filling.
Where Cooks Often Slip
An overstuffed sandwich is the usual culprit when pakoras burst open in the oil, so spread the potato modestly and press the slices together firmly before cutting. Batter that is too thin is another: it fails to cover the bread, leaving bare patches that soak up oil unevenly and turn greasy instead of crisp. Frying at too high a temperature is the third. The batter browns before the bread and filling have warmed through, so the outside looks done while the middle is not.
Keeping and Warming Up Leftovers
To keep it: Bread pakora is a snack to eat fresh. The bread inside goes soft quickly, and unlike drier fried snacks it does not store well. If you have to wait, leave the pakoras uncovered at room temperature for up to an hour and crisp them in the oven before serving. Refrigerating or freezing is not advised, as the texture of the bread suffers badly.
To warm it up: Warm them in an oven or toaster oven at 180°C (350°F) for 6 to 8 minutes. A microwave will heat the filling, but it leaves the coating limp and the bread somewhat soggy.
Kitchen Safety Note
Like any cooked potato mixture, the filling should be cooled and used the same day, or refrigerated quickly if you make it ahead, and it should not stand at room temperature for a long time before you assemble the sandwiches. As with all deep-frying, hold the oil at a steady temperature, never leave hot oil unattended, and avoid reusing it over and over or once it has darkened or starts to smoke at a lower temperature than it did when fresh.