The Recipe Room

I’ve always loved getting onion bhajis from my local Indian takeaway, but I imagined they would be quite difficult to make, so I never seemed to get around to making them myself.  Then, by pure chance, I happened to see them being made while I was waiting for my order and quickly asked the cook if he would mind telling me the basic recipe.  I didn’t have a pen or anything to write with, but luckily I’ve got a pretty good memory.  This easy onion bhaji recipe is what I made the next day by memory from those instructions.

The only real change I made (as far as I can remember) was in the frying method.  Onion bhajis, sometimes known as vegetable or cheese fritters served in soups, are usually deep fried, but I wanted to try and make them a little bit healthier and lighter, so I decided to just fry them in a frying pan with a little bit of oil.  They turned out perfectly and were much lighter and less greasy than the typical takeaway fare, while still retaining all of the flavour.

Once you get the hang of making them, you can try substituting the onion with courgette or whatever other vegetable tickles your fancy.  I personally recommend eating them with tamarind sauce, but feel free to use whatever sauce you prefer, or even just eat them plain.

You Need:

• 500 g Gram flour
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 150 ml water
• 1.5 tbsps fresh chopped coriander

Steps:

1. Mix the Gram flour, cumin seeds, chilli powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the onions and fresh coriander and mix well.
3. Add the water and mix to form a thick batter, making sure the onions are evenly distributed throughout.
4. Set aside for 5 minutes.
5. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan.
6. Drop a tablespoon at a time of the batter into the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.  You will need to add more oil for each new set of bhajis.
7. Remove the finished Bhajis from the oil and let them drain on a wire rack or kitchen paper.
8. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce or chutney.

Ready In:  30 minutes

Serves:  6

Difficulty:   3 out of 5

Tags: baking soda, chilli powder, coriander, cumin seeds, Easy Onion Bhaji, gluten-free, gram flour, Indian food, onions, vegetable fritters

This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 May, 2012 at 10:54 am by Jack Williams and is filed under Less than 30 minutes, Meal for 6 people, Starters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.