Directions:

• Finely shred cabbage and keep aside.
• Finely slice onion and keep aside. Chop or mince ginger garlic (or use ginger garlic paste) and green chili. You could use jalapeño in place of green chilli or skip it if you don’t like the heat.
• In a wide bowl, take together shredded cabbage with sliced onion. Add minced chilli and cilantro leaves.
• Add garam masala, chilli powder or paprika, turmeric powder and ajwain or carrom seeds.
• Carrom seeds lend a unique flavour to the pakodas and are also good for digestion.
• If you can’t source them in your Indian grocery, then you can skip them or use some dried oregano in their place.
• Also add salt and ginger garlic paste.
• Mix everything together and leave aside for 5 minutes. The veggies will release some water and also absorb the flavours of the spices well.
• Add chickpea flour or besan along with rice flour or cornstarch that you are using. You can also skip the rice flour. It is mainly used to make cabbage. pakodas more crunchy.
• Add 1 tsp. Vegetable oil to the mixture.
• Mix well with your hands. Add very little water to form the batter. It should not be too runny especially for the air fried version.
• Heat 1 cup oil in a hot pan or kadai. When it is medium hot, check by adding a drop of the batter. If it floats to the top with a lot of bubbles, your oil is ready for deep frying.
• Using your hands or spoon, make small fritters or pakoda and drop them gently into the medium hot oil.
• Don’t overcrowd your kadai. Fry them well on both sides till golden brown. Take out using a slotted spoon onto absorbent paper in a. plate.
• Serve hot sprinkled with chaat masala and a side of chutney.
• Preheat air fryer at 360F or 180C for 4 minutes. Put a perforated parchment paper to line air fryer basket. This makes clean up easier and also prevents the pakodas from sticking to the basket.
• Now make small pakodas from the batter and place on air fryer basket. Make sure that there is enough space between them and they don't overlap.
• Air fry at 360F or 180C for 5 minutes. Brush pakodas with oil and flip them. Air fry for another 3-5 minutes at 360F or 180C.
• After this time if your pakodas are still not browned, increase the temperature to 200C or 390F and air fry for 2-3 minutes more till they become browned and well cooked inside.
• Take out your air fryer cabbage pakoda and serve them hot with ketchup or chutney.
• Preheat oven at 350F or 175C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Place cabbage pakodas in one row.
• Bake at 350F or 175C for 10 minutes. Flip them and bake for 5-7 minutes more.
• They should get crispy edges. If they still don’t look cooked, you can bake for a few minutes more.
• Take them out and serve them hot with chutney or ketchup. Enjoy.