🍢 SNACK
Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters)
Spoonfuls of spiced chickpea-flour batter full of chopped tomato, onion, green chili and garlic, fried until crisp and golden and eaten hot with a yogurt and coriander dip.
Bahraini · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 20 min · plus 20 min hands-off time
~328 cal · 12g protein · 30g carbs · 18g fat · 5g fiber · 9g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Kabab Bahraini sounds like it should be meat, but it is a vegetarian fritter: a thick batter of chickpea flour spiced with chili powder and a pinch of , full of chopped tomato, onion, green chili and garlic, dropped by the spoonful into hot oil. It is close kin to the pakora of the Indian subcontinent, but the chopped tomato in the batter sets it apart.
It is a Ramadan favourite, fried fresh for the iftar table and served hot with a dip of yogurt and coriander, and it is also eaten as a snack with tea. Many cooks beat an egg into the batter for a lighter, puffier fritter, and some add chopped kurrat, a thin Egyptian leek, or fresh herbs.
Bahrainis buy the chickpea flour sold as kabab flour for it, but any works. They are best eaten within minutes of frying.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 150 g (about 1 1/4 cups) chickpea flour ( or besan), check the packet if you avoid gluten
- 1/4 tsp baking powder, use a gluten-free one if you avoid gluten
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder
- a pinch
- 1 egg, optional; makes the fritters lighter
- 140 ml water
- 1 small tomato, finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 green chili, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp kurrat (Egyptian leek) or chives, chopped, optional
- about 500 ml sunflower or other , for frying
- 1 cup plain yogurt (for the dip)
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped (for the dip)
Instructions
- 1Sift the chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, chili powder and garam masala into a bowl. Make a well, add the egg and water and whisk into a smooth, thick batter that drops heavily from a spoon.
- 2Fold in the tomato, onion, green chili, garlic and kurrat. Cover and rest the batter for 20 minutes.
- 3Stir the chopped coriander and a pinch of salt into the yogurt for the dip.
- 4Heat about 2 cm of oil in a deep frying pan to 170 to 180C (340 to 350F). Drop in tablespoons of batter, a few at a time, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until deep golden and crisp.✎ Chef’s noteDo not crowd the pan. Too many fritters at once cool the oil and they turn greasy.
- 5Drain on paper towels and serve at once, hot, with the yogurt dip.
Bahraini Ramadan tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Manama. Manama is sweet on machboos and on muhammar, rice cooked with dates or sugar and saffron and served against salted fish. Bahraini cooking reflects Gulf trade in cardamom, rosewater, dried lime, and the pearl-diving history of the islands.
🗺️
Bahrain. Muhammar is sweet rice, coloured and flavoured with dibs, date syrup, and saffron, and it is always served with fried fish, the sweetness set against the salt. Pearl divers ate it for energy on long dives, which is where the tradition is traced. It is not muhammara, the Syrian walnut and red pepper dip, and the two are confused often enough that reference books warn about it.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bahrain
MuhammarBahrain's sweet brown rice scented with date syrup, saffron, and cardamom, traditionally served with fried fish.
ChebabSaffron-and-cardamom pancakes tinted gold, served with cheese or date syrup, a Gulf breakfast.
GhooziSpiced rice crowned with tender roasted lamb, fried nuts, and raisins, a grand Bahraini and Gulf celebration platter.
Browse all Bahrain recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Whisk.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Bahrain meal
Gahwa (Bahraini Arabic Coffee)Drink
RanginakDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Baya Kyaw (Burmese Split Pea Fritters)Myanmar
Pholourie (Guyanese Split Pea Fritters)Guyana
Akra (Haitian Malanga Fritters)Haiti
Tsybryki (Belarusian Fried Potato and Cheese Balls)Belarus
Klui-Klui (Beninese Peanut Sticks)Benin
Accra Banana (Cameroonian Banana and Cassava Fritters)Cameroon
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters)?
Spoonfuls of spiced chickpea-flour batter full of chopped tomato, onion, green chili and garlic, fried until crisp and golden and eaten hot with a yogurt and coriander dip.
Where does Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters) come from?
Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters) is a Bahraini dish from Manama, Bahrain.
Can Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kabab Bahraini (Bahraini Chickpea Flour Fritters) take to make?
About 55 min in all: 15 minutes prep and 20 minutes cooking, plus 20 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.