Baby Corn Pakodas made with tender baby corns, dipped in a flavourful chickpea flour batter, minus the effort, hassle and calories of deep frying. These Pakodas turn out real good in the Air Fryer.

I’ve been quite vocal about my dislike for corn and baby corn. But let me clarify. I love corn on the cob, hot off the coals, smeared with chili-salt and lemon. I love corn in a Mexican salad. I love the charred bits of sweet corn in my salads. But when Indian restaurants start adding frozen corn to every single vegetarian curry, that’s my cue to start freaking out and hating on corn 🙂 It’s true! Any mixed vegetable dish you order in a Punjabi / multi cuisine restaurant will have these utterly tasteless morsels of sweet corn that have hibernated in the freezer for god knows how long. The same is true for baby corn. These two make bland fillers into any curry dredged in that same green, red or yellow colour sauce.

But give me seasonal corn in a dish that respects its delicate flavour and texture, and I’m all for it.

Do try these seasonal corn recipes!

It’s been raining in Bangalore once every few evenings, not enough to qualify for the monsoons, but we are making do with it. The already good weather turns so much better with the cool breeze and like Purba Ray’s viral tweet reads – “When it rains in India, it is the duty of vegetables to cover themselves with besan and jump in a karhai full of hot oil”.

I had a small lot of baby corn, and air fryer to the rescue, so I did not have to heat up a kadai full of hot oil to make this rainy day special Baby Corn Pakodas. Sorry, Purba 😀

Tips for making pakodas in air fryer

The key to making baby corn pakodas in the air fryer, as I have explained in my post on Onion pakoda in air fryer, is to keep the batter thicker than what you would for regular deep frying. Second tip is to line the basket with either parchment or a piece of aluminium foil brushed with oil, so that the batter does not clog the wires.

I prefer parboiling the baby corn, otherwise it tends to remain too raw when making pakodas in air fryer. If you deep fry, then parboiling the baby corn may not be required.

I love how the air fryer comes to the rescue for our monsoon cravings of something spicy and crunchy. All kinds of root vegetables or starchy vegetables can be sliced or julienned and air fried to a crisp. Toss in a spice mix you like and you have a guilt free snack which also adds to your vegetable quota for the day.

Easy air fryer recipes you MUST try: