Air fryers are marketed to us as magical devices that allow us to have the fried food experience, without the guilt of actually having fried food. While that’s true in most cases, sometimes the air fryers fail to replace traditional deep frying. This is particularly true in cases when you’re working with wet batter, trying to cook vadas and pakodas inside the air fryer, things which usually require a lot of oil for cooking.
But when you actually try to cook wet batter, something unexpected happens. The batter drips, spreads, sticks to the basket, or cooks unevenly. Instead of crispy pakoras, you get a messy, half-cooked clump. Don’t worry, you are not alone here.
So what’s actually going on?
What Happens When You Try to Cook Wet Batter in an Air Fryer
We have tested multiple air fryers, and here are some common things that happen when you try to cook wet batter in an air fryer:
• Batter drips through the basket holes
- Bottom sticks badly
- Food loses shape
- Inside stays raw
- Outside overcooks
And even if it somehow looks okay at first, the texture is off. Pakoras become dry like nuggets instead of being soft and crispy. And the vadas don’t puff up either.
Why Wet Batter Doesn’t Work Well
To understand why wet batter doesn’t work in an air fryer, you need to understand how an air fryer actually works. See, an air fryer cooks food using hot circulating air. There is no pool of oil holding the batter in shape while it sets.
When you deep fry something in a kadhai or pot, the outer layer of the batter instantly solidifies when it hits hot oil. And that quick crust traps moisture inside, giving you that crispy and fluffy texture.
When you use an air fryer to cook the same thing, the wet batter has nothing to cling to. It drips through the mesh or becomes flat even before it cooks. There is nothing to hold that shape. Further, the fan also blows the batter around, which causes uneven cooking.
That’s why foods which have a firm coating with breadcrumbs, frozen snacks, and marinated chicken work well in air fryers, and wet batter doesn’t.
See, the air fryer removes oil, but it is oil that actually gives these foods their structure.
What You Can Do Instead
Here are some tricks that you can try if you really want to cook wet batter in an air fryer.
- Use thicker batter
Try making the batter thicker, sort of semi-solid, so that it holds its shape. - Use parchment or a tray
This will prevent the batter from dripping or sticking. - Spray some oil
This will help in the quick browning of the outer layer. - Freeze first
Before you put your vadas or pakodas in the air fryer, shape them and freeze them for 10-15 minutes.
This won’t perfectly match deep frying, but the results improve a lot.
When You Should Just Deep Fry
Honestly, as much as we want to make all the food that we eat healthy, sometimes deep frying can’t be avoided. Our traditional bhajiyas, pakodas, and vadas are meant to be deep-fried; air fryers can mimic crispiness for many foods, but not everything.
You can instead use air fryers for samosas, frozen snacks, roasted veggies, paneer tikka, chicken wings, etc, but not every wet batter recipe.
Choose the Right Tool for the Dish
As much as we would like them to replace deep frying, they’re not replacements for every cooking method. Wet batter foods like pakoras and vadas rely on instant oil contact to hold their shape and develop texture.
After testing and reviewing a bunch of air fryers, we have figured that thicker batters and careful shaping help, but nothing truly matched deep frying.
So next time, if your air fryer pakoras fall apart, it’s not your technique or your appliance. It’s just the science of how air frying works.
