Air Fryer Aloo Tikki (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Crisp-edged spiced potato patties — North India's beloved aloo tikki, air-fried with no deep-frying, naturally vegan, gluten-free, and built from whole foods.
AirFryerCookBook Team · May 27, 2026
Aloo tikki is what street food does best: it takes the cheapest thing in the market — a potato — and, with a handful of spices and a hot griddle, turns it into something people line up for. The word just means potato cutlet, but on the streets of Delhi and across Uttar Pradesh it's an institution, shallow-fried on a wide tawa, pressed flat, crisped at the edges, and served as chaat with green and tamarind chutney and a tumble of chickpeas. You eat it standing up, off a leaf plate, for the price of a coffee.
This is also, almost by accident, a clean-eating dream: potatoes, peas, chickpea flour, fresh herbs, and spice you can name, with nothing processed anywhere near it. The air fryer's honest tradeoff against the griddle is the lacy, oil-fried fringe a real tikki gets from a slick of ghee or oil — you won't get quite that lace. What you do get, thanks to the chickpea flour toasting in dry heat, is a genuinely crisp, golden crust on a fraction of the fat, with the inside staying soft and steamy.
Naturally vegan and free of the big allergens, it's a snack you can put in front of almost anyone, and shaping the patties is one of the better jobs to hand a kid.
Spread them out in a basket with room to breathe so the edges crisp instead of steaming against each other.
Air Fryer Aloo Tikki (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
43m · Serves 4 · Easy · Cosori 5.8qt
Ingredients
×11- 4 mediumpotatoes — boiled, peeled, mashed; organic if you can
- 1/2 cupcooked peas — lightly crushed
- 3 tbspchickpea flour — besan, to bind — naturally gluten-free
- 1green chili — minced; omit for kids
- 1 tspfresh ginger — grated
- 1 tspground cumin
- 1 tspgaram masala
- 1/2 tspamchur — dried mango powder, for tang
- 1 tspfine sea salt
- 2 tbspcilantro — chopped
- 1 tbspneutral oil — to brush
Method
- 01
Mash the potatoes while still warm, then fold in the crushed peas, chickpea flour, chili, ginger, cumin, garam masala, amchur, salt, and cilantro. The chickpea flour both binds and toasts to a savory crust — don't skip it. Mix to a firm, shapeable dough.
- 02
Divide into eight portions and shape each into a flat, even patty about half an inch thick. Brush both sides with a thin film of oil.
- 03
Arrange in a single layer and air fry at 380°F for 18 minutes, flipping halfway, until the surfaces are deeply golden and crisp at the edges.
- 04
Serve hot with green chutney and a little tamarind — and if you want full chaat, set them over warm chickpeas with a drizzle of both.
Nutrition · per serving
170 cal / 5g protein / 4g fat / 29g carbs
Estimated. Values vary by brand and portion.
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