Leftover rice pakoda, a crispy deep-fried snack made with leftover rice. Leftover cooked rice is mixed with besan, onions and spices and deep-fried for a delicious snack.
With the lockdown situation, most of us are at home, so it is natural to cook a little more, which sometimes ends up as leftover.

Being a rice eater, we always have a small cup of rice extra. I usually make mixed rice with the rice the next day, or add it while grinding idly/dosa batter for soft idly.
This time i tried making rice pakoda with them . It turned out delicious and kiddos enjoyed them.
What to note while making this recipe
The rice used to make this pakoda has to be softly done. If the rice is dry, sprinkle little water and steam it in microwave, so it becomes soft.
The leftover rice pakoda mix should be tight and bindable, do not add more water and make it soggy.


Leftover Rice Pakoda
Ingredients
- 1 cup leftover cooked rice
- 2-3 tbsp besan chickpea flour
- 1 no medium sized onion thinly sliced
- 1 no green chili finely chopped
- small piece ginger minced
- 1 tsp red chili and coriander powder i have equal amounts of chili and coriander powdered together
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds freshly pounded
- ¼ tsp ajwain seeds pounded
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- 2-3 tbsp water
- ¼ cup fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
- 3/4 tsp salt or to taste
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
- In a wide bowl, take the leftover rice, add besan to this, add chopped onions, green chili, ginger, curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves. Mix this well.
- Add the spice powders one by one, red chili and coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, ajwain powder and salt. Mix well together
- Sprinkle 2-3 tbsp of water to this and mix well to get a bindable mixture. When you press the mix, you should be able form a shape
- Next step is frying, heat oil in a frying pan, when it is hot enough, pinch small balls out the rice mixture and drop it into the hot oil.
- Deep fry them to golden brown and crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Serve it hot with a cup of hot chai.
Video
Notes
- I have a equal amounts of red chilies and corinader measured and powdered together, i have used this powder to spice the pakora
- You can use 1/2 tsp each of coriander and red chili powder in place of that.

Looking for more snack options
If you are looking for some more interesting tea-time snack options, check this Cabbage vadai, Aloo bonda or Spinach pakoda
If you are looking for healthy snack options check this black chana sundal
Check out what my BM buddies are doing here.
Some other recipe using leftover rice
- Chickpeas rice using leftover rice
- Rice bowl using leftover rice
- Check out this soft and fluffy idly made using leftover rice by Swaty
- Fermented rice Porridge using leftover rice
Such a delicious way to use up leftover rice! And it is a perfect rain time snack with the Rainmaker.
Sowmya recently posted…Rewena Paraoa
Perfect use of leftover rice , the pakoras look nice and crunchy and are tempting me to pick some .
I am sure these crispy, yummy pakodas make a great foil to the boring evenings everyone is experiencing lately.
I also make pakoda with leftover rice, but your version sounds even more delicious. I will try it soon. Lovely pictures.
WOw lovely pakodas, its been a while I made pakoda with rice. You have made it so perfect. Good one
Wow! they look so crispy and tempting. Perfect for the lonely evenings we are all experiencing.
Harini Rupanagudi recently posted…Garlic Chutney For Vada Pav
I too make same way and this looks so delicious and crispy. Perfect to enjoy with chai