My Air fryer Nankhatai with funfetti are so crumbly, melt in the mouth and full of sprinkles! These eggless Indian shortbread cookies, or besan nankhatai, are easy to make with few ingredients. Flavoured with real vanilla extract, they make the perfect birthday or bake sale treat all prepared on your counter top!
One of my first memories of Indian grocery shopping was wishing that my Mum would buy me and my brother a small box of nankhatai. Afterall, the job of designated list holder is a difficult task, so I deserved a treat right?!
They had a few different brands of nankhatai on the shelves but the best by far was version that was crumbly with a bite on the inside and a tender “khasta” top. One bite and the biscuit would simply melt-in-my-mouth and release warm nutty and ghee flavours.
Proper bakery-style nankhatai is flaky on the surface and slightly crunchy inside. It also has grittiness which you can really feel once the biscuit has begun melting away.
It should not be chewy like a soft cookie but more like good quality Scottish shortbread. The surface of the nankhatai should have deep cracks.
My Mum perfected her nankhatai recipe when I was younger and now there is no other recipe that we would ever use! This recipe yields perfect buttery nankhatai every single time and this same recipe forms the base for the one we will be using today.
Air fryer Nankhatai
Up until now, we have always baked our nankhatai – after all why fix something if it isn’t broken? Since owning a few Air fryers in our household, we have been experimenting more with air fryer recipes.
Not long ago I shared air fryer Rose and Pistachio Puff Pastry Cream Horns and Sutarfeni with you guys and that I know many of you have made and loved the recipes. These are perfect to celebrate any occasion!
Air fryer Nankhatai is so, so easy and quick! You can make small batches without having to play about with your oven and heat up your whole kitchen!
The nankhatai only need 8 quick minutes in the air fryer. I also find it much easier to control the temperature of an air fryer. Often with ovens, it is difficult to get the heat just right and depending on fan vs conventional ovens there is just too much variation.
In the air fryer, you will still get the original nankhatai crumbly texture with the characteristic cracks on the surface.
Love making air fryer recipes in your kitchen? Try my Air fryer Puff Pastry Chilli Cheese Pineapple Parcels
Ingredients
(full ingredients and measurements found in the recipe card below)
Flour – for authentic nankhatai that you find in the bakery, add white flour/plain flour or all-purpose flour. Sieve the flour prior to using for the best results.
Semolina – I have used fine semolina
Besan – also called chickpea flour or gram flour, we have used fine chickpea flour
Ghee – using good quality desi ghee is the key to perfect nankhatai. We like to make our own homemade desi ghee from unsalted butter
Sugar – You will need white sugar for these nankhatai. Use caster sugar where possible as you do not want sugar granules in your dough. If you only have granulated sugar to hand, simply grind it down in a food processor. If you do not have access to a food processor, you could add granulated sugar but at the sugar and ghee creaming stage, you will have to keep on whisking until the sugar has dissolved – this takes a while!
Optional – baking powder . Our original nankhatai recipe contains a small amount of baking powder. I completely forgot to add it to these nankhatai that you see pictured above and still ended up with pretty much the same results. I’m not quite sure what to take from this, but I would suggest adding baking powder if you do have it! I will still continue to add it to my future nankhatai bakes to ensure they are airy and perfect inside.
Vanilla – for the vanilla flavouring, I have used real vanilla extract.
Funfetti – funfetti, confetti, rainbow sprinkles, coloured vermicelli, 100s and 1000s – whatever you choose to call them! Choose whichever style you fancy.
You can also use the base of my chocolate nankhatai made with cocoa powder for this recipe!
How to make Funfetti Nankhatai in the Air-fryer + Tips
Preparing the Nankhatai dough
Ensure your ghee is at room temperature and semi-solid. Cream together the ghee and sugar until the mixture is whipped and airy – it should lighten in colour and go pale.
Whisk in the vanilla extract.
Sieve the plain flour and besan into the mixture and add the semolina. Add the baking powder at this stage also.
Bring the mixture together to form a dough
Add your sprinkles and combine well.
Shaping
If you are pressed for time, make round balls all roughly the same size
If you have a little more time, use a weighing scale or scoop/spoon of some type to ensure all pieces of dough are the same size. Do between 25-30g each.
Shape into round balls. Do not flatten.
Air-frying the Funfetti Nankhatai
Preheat the air fryer to 180C for 4 minutes.
Cut parchment paper into the same size as the air fryer basket. Cut through a few holes to prevent the paper from flapping in the basket during the cooking stage
Keep a decent gap between the nankhatai when adding into the basket. They will spread slightly. Nankhatai are not meant to be flat but should have height and still look round.
We have air-fried for 8 minutes. The nankhatai will seem crumbly and soft at this stage but they will continue to cook as they cool so do take them out of the air-fryer. Use a wide flat spatula to remove them gently.
Do not leave the biscuits in the air fryer once the air-frying is complete. The air-fryer remains hot and will continue to cook!
No. Many cookie recipes require chilling the dough before placing in the oven. This is to ensure that the fat is cold preventing the cookies from overspreading. In this case, we are shaping the dough into perfect spheres. We are only air-frying for a short period of time therefore the dough balls do not need to be refrigerated. If you live in warmer climates, you may want to try this step out if you feel your ghee is melting.
Absolutely yes, please follow my original Nankhatai recipe to bake them in the oven. Link is above in the post.
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Other eggless baking recipes
- Chocolate and orange cake
- Butterscotch tart
- Eggless Coconut Cookies
Air fryer Funfetti Nankhatai (Indian Funfetti Cookies)
Equipment
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Parchment paper
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 500 g Plain flour
- 50 g Chickpea flour
- 70 g Semolina
- 220 g Sugar castor
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- 350 g ghee at room temperature
- ¼ cup funfetti rainbow sprinkles, heart sprinkles
Instructions
- Pre-heat the air fryer at 180C for 4 minutes.
- In a big bowl beat the ghee and sugar until fluffy.
- Now add Flours, semolina, baking powder.
- Bind into a dough and add funfetti.
- Mix it gently, then make small balls (between 25-30g each)
- Place a piece of parchment in the air fryer basket. Arrange cookies on parchment. Bake at 180C for 8 minutes.
- Remove the basket from the air fryer and allow the cookies to rest in the basket for 4-5 minutes before removing.
- Let it completely cool at room temperature.
Bake in Oven
- Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 or 350F
- Bake for approximately 14-16 minutes. You will see cracks on the surface.
- Allow to cool fully before removing from the baking tray.
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Air fryer Funfetti Nankhatai (Indian Funfetti Cookies)
Equipment
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Parchment paper
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 500 g Plain flour
- 50 g Chickpea flour
- 70 g Semolina
- 220 g Sugar castor
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- 350 g ghee at room temperature
- ¼ cup funfetti rainbow sprinkles, heart sprinkles
Instructions
- Pre-heat the air fryer at 180C for 4 minutes.
- In a big bowl beat the ghee and sugar until fluffy.
- Now add Flours, semolina, baking powder.
- Bind into a dough and add funfetti.
- Mix it gently, then make small balls (between 25-30g each)
- Place a piece of parchment in the air fryer basket. Arrange cookies on parchment. Bake at 180C for 8 minutes.
- Remove the basket from the air fryer and allow the cookies to rest in the basket for 4-5 minutes before removing.
- Let it completely cool at room temperature.
Bake in Oven
- Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 or 350F
- Bake for approximately 14-16 minutes. You will see cracks on the surface.
- Allow to cool fully before removing from the baking tray.
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Bread pakora or bread pakoda recipe is a much loved deep-fried tea time snack that can be made in different ways and hails from North Indian cuisine, mainly Punjabi cuisine. A sandwich of bread and spiced mashed potato stuffing is dipped into gram flour batter. Our Three Layer Aloo Bread Pakora version is as indulgent as it sounds – and the best thing is that with an addition of two spicy chutneys it tastes as incredible as it looks.
- Bread Pakora with potato stuffing
- Three-layer Aloo Bread Pakora
- Ingredients for Stuffed Bread Pakora. Potato Stuffing Bread Chutneys – two types
- Variations
- Serving
- How to make Bread Bajji (bread pakora without stuffing)
- Bread Pakora in Air fryer
- Recipe FAQs
- How to make Triple Layer Stuffed Bread Pakora + Tips Batter: Potato Filling: Assembling Frying
- Other Pakora recipes
Bread Pakora with potato stuffing
Also known as Indian fritters, bread fritters or bread bajji depending on the area. Whist folks in North India know these as Bread Pakora, Bread Bajji is a South India term.
These are a perfect snack enjoyed with a hot cup of tea.
Typically a popular mumbai street food sold in streets but is served in local restaurants too.
There are two version of bread pakora – without a potato stuffing and with. The Without stuffing ones are known as plain bread pakora.
The simple version or without stuffing of bread pakoda are made by halving the normal white sandwich bread slices, dipping into a gram flour batter and deep-frying.
The version most commonly found in street stalls in Mumbai and Punjab also have a spicy mashed potatoes filling sandwiched between two slices of bread.
This is also dipped in a batter and deep-fried and served alongside a cup of masala chai , tomato ketchup or spicy green coriander chutney.
These style of stuffed bread pakoda also known as sandwich bread pakoda in some places are mostly consumed as tea time snacks.
Three-layer Aloo Bread Pakora
Our Bread Pakora goes one step further – 3 layers of bread with potato and two different chutneys! Who said that less is more?!
These triple decker bread pakodas are the ultimate evening snack indulgence. We have prepared two different chutneys – a green mint and coriander chutney and a tomato and onion chutney.
Ingredients for Stuffed Bread Pakora.
Perfect measurements and step by step photos given in the recipe card in the post below. If trying out this recipe for the first time please read the full post which includes helpful tips and suggestions.
The ingredients required are all inexpensive and easy to find:
For Chickpea flour batter:
Gram flour – the main ingredient for this batter, also known as Besan or chickpea flour. We will need fine variety to form the best chickpea batter.
Rice flour – adding a few spoons of rice flour helps the batter to be crispy. Use fine rice flour and not just ground one. Ground rice flour is coarse.
Carom seeds – also known as ajwain, crush lightly to release their oils before adding to the batter. These help with digestion
Spices – we have used a pinch of red chilly powder and turmeric powder which gives colour.
We have not used baking powder or baking soda to make this batter, but you may use if you want to keep batter thick.
Potato Stuffing
The potato stuffing that we have made is fairly mild, but you could make it more spicy by adding red chili powder and green chilies or garam masala powder should you wish – remember that two chutneys go into this recipe!
Potatoes –for this potato-filled snack recipe use floury potatoes to make mash potato. In UK you’ll find Marie Piper or Desiree, Estima, King Edward in your local super markets. In USA you can use russet or Idaho potatoes.
Crushed chilli and ginger – fresh is better but you could use frozen. coriander leaves
Cumin seeds – we love to use cumin seeds in this recipe, however mustard seeds works fine too.
Fennel seeds – or powder. We grind or pound our own fennel seeds to make powder, which has a taste similar to star anise. You may skip totally if you don’t have it.
Seasonings – black pepper, sugar, amchoor powder (dry mango powder) if can’t find use lemon juice.
You can prepare the potato filling in advance and keep refrigerated until you want to use. It will keep fresh for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Bread
The dish is most commonly made with fresh white slice of bread. If you want street-style Bread Pakora then white bread is a must! Of course, if you only have brown bread then you can still use that.
I would also leave the crusts on – you do not need to cut off the crusts off the bread, in fact the crust helps with the integrity of the pakora prior to frying as they hold their triangular shape better.
I have used medium (thickness size) slice bread as we have made three layered bread pakora. You may use thick ones if making just with two slices.
Oil – to deep fry we need oil, try to use mild flavour oil such as vegetable oil or sunflower oil.
Chutneys – two types
Two different chutneys which are common in Indian food – red and green – form two of the layers for these pakora.
See our Mint and Coriander Chutney for the green chutney recipe
The red tomato and onion chutney is super quick to make:
Fresh tomatoes + tomato puree – we have used a mix of fresh tomatoes and tomato puree. You could also use tinned tomatoes instead of these two ingredients.
Onion+ Garlic – use fresh onion and garlic where possible rather than frozen or bottled.
Sugar – a pinch of sugar helps to cut through the tart tomato taste
Red chilli powder – to make this a spicy chutney – adjust this according to your taste.
Variations
Add a layer of paneer or add grated paneer in the potato stuffing.
Add a layer of cheese – either slices or grated
Mix some vegetables to the potato filling – carrots and green peas for example.
Serving
These hot bread pakoras are already stuffed with two chutneys therefore you do not have to serve with extra dips but sprinkling a pinch of chaat masala onto the pakora takes it to a different level.
A cup of karak chai or simply hot tea always goes great with pakoras or just tomato sauce if you wish. You could also serve with mint chutney, gujarati imli and date chutney for some sweet tangy flavours!
If you are looking for something sweet, serve these with mango cheesecake lassi or virgin cardamom mojito .
How to make Bread Bajji (bread pakora without stuffing)
An alternative bread pakora recipe is to make it without any potato stuffing. In this case, bread triangles are dipped into a batter and deep fried with no filling. Chutney can still be sandwiched between bread slices for variation.
Simply make a spiced besan batter by mixing gram flour (besan), rice flour, spices into a mixing bowl until smooth. White bread slices are then quickly dipped into the smooth batter before it is fried.
Bread Pakora in Air fryer
You can make bread pakora in the air fryer.
Follow 1-3 to make the bread pakoras. Instead of deep frying, use the below airfryer method.
The batter for air fryer pakora should not be too thick , else it may taste raw. Use roasted besan in this case as it may help remove the uncooked taste of the batter.
Cut the fresh bread into smaller pieces for the air fryer. Place the pakora in the air fryer basket which is already lined with parchment paper. Pierce holes in the parchment paper to prevent it flapping around in the air fryer.
Place the pakora in the basket but do not overfill the basket.
Air fry the bread pakora for 7-8 mins at 190 deg C, brush oil and cook further for 5 minutes.
Remove the parchment paper/baking sheet, flip the fritters, brush with oil and continue to cook for 5-6 minutes or until done.
You can freeze this mixture and use at a later date to make another tea-time snack Gujarati Batata Vada or Punjabi Samosa Puffs or bread rolls – best way is simply add the few additional ingredients that are needed in the mixing bowl with the potato stuffing. Aloo aur Pyaz Ke Parathe is a great breakfast or brunch idea.
To make Bread snack recipes like these Pakoras on Tawa, prepare the pakora as per original recipe. Instead of deep frying, heat a frying pan or tawa on medium flame. Add a few tbsp oil to the pan. Cook the pakora on one side before flipping to fry the other side – you may have to add more oil. Cover all sides of the pakora until the batter has cooked through.
Yes, simply arrange them on a baking tray and bake in preheated oven for 3-4 minutes. Do not heat in the microwave, it will make pakora soft.
How to make Triple Layer Stuffed Bread Pakora + Tips
Batter:
For the best results, we want the batter consistency to be not thin yet not thick. A thin batter will not coat the pakora however an overly thick batter will be dense and the pakora will not have a soft outer layer.
Potato Filling:
We need mashed potato for bread pakora.
You can boil potato on the stove, use an Indian stovetop pressure cooker or electric pressure cooker like Instant Pot.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the crushed ginger and green chillies. Immediately add the potatoes and the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Assembling
Assembling the bread pakora is easy, it just requires a couple of steps!
Apply butter or margarine onto one side of 4 slices of bread pieces
To one, apply green chutney, to another slice spread the potato mixture, to the third slice add the tomato chutney.
Stack the slices ensuring the unbuttered side is on top.
Cut the sandwich carefully into halves or quarters.
Frying
Use a heavy bottomed kadai or pan that is deep enough to submerge the majority of the pakora.
Dip the sandwich into the batter carefully – do not leave the sandwich in the batter for long as it will make the bread soggy
Use a large slotted spoon and slide the pakora gently into the oil
If the oil does not cover the top of the pakora, use a slotted spoon to spoon the hot oil over the pakora
To avoid the pakora becoming oily, fry at a medium heat. Frying at low heat causes more oil to be absorbed.
Frying at too high flame will cause the outside to brown and the inside will remain raw.
Other Pakora recipes
- Gujarat Na Daal Vada
- Methi Corn Bhajiya
- Packed Potato Bhajia
- Date Cashew Chilli Bhajia
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Bread Pakora with Aloo Stuffing
Equipment
- Wide plate
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Kadai or frying pan
- Slotted spoon/skimmer slotted spoon
Ingredients
Onion and Tomato Chutney
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 small tomatoes ripe cut
- 1 clove garlic
- salt
- 1 tbsp. chilli powder red
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. tomato paste /puree very thick
- 1 tsp. oil
Potato Stuffing
- 4-5 potato boiled and mashed – there should be no lump in the mash
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp green chilli crushed
- 1 tbsp ginger crushed
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp. fennel seeds dry powder
- ½ tsp. sugar
- ½ tsp mango powder amchoor powder
- 1 tsp. oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ⅛ tsp asafoetida hing
Pakoda Batter
- 3 cup chickpea flour besan
- 2 tbsp rice flour optional
- salt
- 1 tsp. chilli powder red
- ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
- ½ tsp. carom seeds crushed ajwain seeds
- water
Sandwich Layers
- 16 bread white slices
- 2 tsp. butter or margarine
- oil for deep fry
Instructions
Onion and Tomato Chutney – Red Chutney
- Heat oil and saute onion and garlic for few minutes or until light brown. 1 small onion, 1 clove garlic
- Add chopped tomatoes, sugar and salt, let it cook till all the moisture evaporates. 3 small tomatoes, salt, 1 tbsp. sugar
- Add thick tomato puree and red chilli powder, let it cook for another minute or so. 1 tbsp. chilli powder, 1 tsp. tomato paste
- Switch off the heat, let it cool slightly.
- Grind in the grinder until smooth paste.
Potato stuffing
- Heat oil in a kadai, add cumin seeds when they crackle add hing. 1 tsp. oil, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/8 tsp asafoetida
- Now add crushed chilli and ginger and fry for few seconds. 2 tbsp green chilli, 1 tbsp ginger
- Switch off the heat, add remaining ingredients and mix well. 4-5 potato, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp mango powder
- let it cool at room temperature for later use
Pakora Batter
- Take square cake tin or any dish.
- Place all the ingredients and mix well. 3 cup chickpea flour, 2 tbsp rice flour, salt, 1 tsp. chilli powder, 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp. carom seeds
- Add a cup water just a little water at a time and make not too thick not too thin batter. water
- I keep batter little thinner side, as I don’t like too much thick besan flour layer on my any kind of pakora, however it becomes little extra hard work for me.
- Whisk the batter with the egg whisker, making sure no lumps are in the batter.
- Leave it aside.
Assemble bread Pakora
- Place oil in a kadai and put it on a medium heat. oil
- Meanwhile take 4 slices of bread for one pakora. 16 bread
- Spread very thinly butter on one side on each slice. 2 tsp. butter
- Now spread green chutney on the butter side.
- Lay another bread slices on top of the green chutney slice. ( Butter side up )
- Take 2 tbsp. potato stuffing and apply evenly.
- Take 3rd bread slice and lay on top of the potato stuffing. ( Butter side up )
- Spread red chutney.
- Lay 4th bread slice, butter side on the red chutney side.
- Make sure all the sides are in line.
- Gently press all over. You may leave it whole or cut into two or four slices using sharp bread knife.
- Very gently put bread pakora sandwich into the batter.
- With the spoon pour batter on the bread sandwich.
- Make sure sandwich is coated with the batter from everywhere.
- Now is the hard part, keep patience .
Frying Bread Pakora
- Lower the heat of the oil.
- Take one flat spatula and slide very slowly under the bread sandwich.
- Lift it very carefully, hold it for few seconds, let excess batter drop in the tray, with the help of another spatula gently slip away the whole sandwich into the hot oil. ( Be very careful,)
- Don’t turn away the pakora very quickly, keep poring hot oil over the pakora from the sides with the stainless still slotted spoon ( Jaro )
- Once you see the upper layer of the pakora covered in oil, very gently turn away the pakora.
- Fry till you see crispy and golden brown pakora.
- Remove from the oil.
- Leave it for few seconds on a clean kitchen paper.
- Very gently cut the pakora into four triangle with bread knife if you have fried the whole sandwich pakora.
- Serve HOT bread pakoda with tea or any cold beverage.
- Repeat same method with the remaining stuff.
- Enjoy with fried green chillies, dry peanut chutney, masala chai or soft drinks.
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First time published in October 2015.
