Onion Bhaji's----Home Cooked.
Discussion
Anybody make their own? I like to class myself as a sort of Expert in the field of knowing which ones are the best and hardest to make. However I am still quite low on the ladder of making perfection myself!!
Very interested to hear of any tried and tested recipes out there.
We can all make the stodgy `Supermarket` type ones that taste of pot curry sauce etc.You know the ones... they are overcooked on the outside the batter is too thick and very much undercooked on the inside. Cold they are like eating a sodden telephone directory!
I need the light spicy, round or flat varieties that make the Bhaji so good to eat!!
Let me Have it!!!
Watch-Collector
Very interested to hear of any tried and tested recipes out there.
We can all make the stodgy `Supermarket` type ones that taste of pot curry sauce etc.You know the ones... they are overcooked on the outside the batter is too thick and very much undercooked on the inside. Cold they are like eating a sodden telephone directory!
I need the light spicy, round or flat varieties that make the Bhaji so good to eat!!
Let me Have it!!!
Watch-Collector
Edited by Watch-Collector on Wednesday 19th November 22:34
Go back a few pages in this forum, I posted a recipe a couple of months back, they are VERY easy to make.
Onions
Gram Flour
Tumeric, Chilli Powder, Coriander, Cumin
Deep fry.
I had the misfortune of being given some of the supermarket efforts the other day, after a few months of making my own they now taste of nothing at all.
Onions
Gram Flour
Tumeric, Chilli Powder, Coriander, Cumin
Deep fry.
I had the misfortune of being given some of the supermarket efforts the other day, after a few months of making my own they now taste of nothing at all.
Slice copious amounts of onion very thinly.
Mix the following:
3 tbsp gram flour (ground chick peas)
1 tsp cumin / ground coriander / chilli powder / fenugreek / tumeric / kolonji (black onion seed)/ salt / black pepper
water to achieve desired consistency
Add to your sliced onions in stages, making sure you do not end up with too much batter
nion.
It needs to be just enough to bind the onion together when it hits the hot fat.
Get said fat up to a medium hot temperature so that the batter sets once dropped in but you don't scorch the corners and make them bitter.
Use a high-sided pan and only fill with 1/3 oil as the majority of the water content of the onions evapourates when they hit the fat and it bubbles up.
Around seven minutes should get you a deliciously crisp, relatively flat (not round) randomly shaped bhaji.
The star of the show here is the onion for sure! They are great!
Mix the following:
3 tbsp gram flour (ground chick peas)
1 tsp cumin / ground coriander / chilli powder / fenugreek / tumeric / kolonji (black onion seed)/ salt / black pepper
water to achieve desired consistency
Add to your sliced onions in stages, making sure you do not end up with too much batter
nion.It needs to be just enough to bind the onion together when it hits the hot fat.
Get said fat up to a medium hot temperature so that the batter sets once dropped in but you don't scorch the corners and make them bitter.
Use a high-sided pan and only fill with 1/3 oil as the majority of the water content of the onions evapourates when they hit the fat and it bubbles up.
Around seven minutes should get you a deliciously crisp, relatively flat (not round) randomly shaped bhaji.
The star of the show here is the onion for sure! They are great!
This is my recipe. My Bhaji's are legendary round here (oo-err).
250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
Roop said:
This is my recipe. My Bhaji's are legendary round here (oo-err).
250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
I do mine with yogurt too, however miss out the chilli powder and fenugreek. I assume you use ground rather than the whole seed ?250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
I think I have something I need to cook on Monday ! Onion Bhaji, Vegetable Samosa and Cucumber Raita.
Bob the Planner said:
Roop said:
This is my recipe. My Bhaji's are legendary round here (oo-err).
250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
I do mine with yogurt too, however miss out the chilli powder and fenugreek. I assume you use ground rather than the whole seed ?250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
I think I have something I need to cook on Monday ! Onion Bhaji, Vegetable Samosa and Cucumber Raita.
For the Fenugreek seeds, I use whole seeds, not ground. Just whack them in. Once cooked they are so soft that it's not a problem, plus when you get one you get a nice mild flavour 'hit' rather than having the same flavour throughout the bhaji. Worth a go if you haven't tried it I reckon.
Roop said:
Bob the Planner said:
Roop said:
This is my recipe. My Bhaji's are legendary round here (oo-err).
250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
I do mine with yogurt too, however miss out the chilli powder and fenugreek. I assume you use ground rather than the whole seed ?250g Gram flour.
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.
3 tbsp greek yoghurt.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes).
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp dried ground coriander.
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
Lob it all into a bowl and mush it together with your hands until it's well mixed and all clumped up. It's supposed to be really sticky, but you can add a bit more Greek yoghurt if needed. Form using two teaspoons into golf-ball sized lumps and drop into deep fat fryer with sunflower oil at 190°C. Check at 4 minutes - usually takes 5 to cook them to perfection. Lift out and drain for a few seconds on kitchen paper.
Eat with home-made raita - Greek yoghurt + bit of finely chopped mint + plenty of finely chopped coriander and a sprinkle of paprika if you want.
I think I have something I need to cook on Monday ! Onion Bhaji, Vegetable Samosa and Cucumber Raita.
For the Fenugreek seeds, I use whole seeds, not ground. Just whack them in. Once cooked they are so soft that it's not a problem, plus when you get one you get a nice mild flavour 'hit' rather than having the same flavour throughout the bhaji. Worth a go if you haven't tried it I reckon.
I have also experimented with Star Anise, using grinder and adding to the recipe this makes a good taste as well.
My first Bhajis I had were at `The Polash` restaurant in Essex and still in my opinion are the best I have had. They tend to be quite large round and a deep red colour but they are always well cooked all the way through and extremely tasty. Cant work out how they get them so well cooked being so big!
Edited by Watch-Collector on Friday 21st November 16:29
In a similar vein.
Augergines are very adept to a bit of gram flour.
slice thinly salt aubergines, leave for an hour, wash and drain. Pat HARD to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
Mix gram flour with the same ingredients as for a bhaji. Press aubergines into the mix and cook in a frying pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Cook each side until deep caramel brown and you will get the delicious crunchy coating of the flour and the creamy deliciousness of meltingly good aubergine in the middle.
Great with yoghurt or if you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells yoghurt and sweet garlic - get some.
Augergines are very adept to a bit of gram flour.
slice thinly salt aubergines, leave for an hour, wash and drain. Pat HARD to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
Mix gram flour with the same ingredients as for a bhaji. Press aubergines into the mix and cook in a frying pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Cook each side until deep caramel brown and you will get the delicious crunchy coating of the flour and the creamy deliciousness of meltingly good aubergine in the middle.
Great with yoghurt or if you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells yoghurt and sweet garlic - get some.
drivin_me_nuts said:
In a similar vein.
Augergines are very adept to a bit of gram flour.
slice thinly salt aubergines, leave for an hour, wash and drain. Pat HARD to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
Mix gram flour with the same ingredients as for a bhaji. Press aubergines into the mix and cook in a frying pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Cook each side until deep caramel brown and you will get the delicious crunchy coating of the flour and the creamy deliciousness of meltingly good aubergine in the middle.
Great with yoghurt or if you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells yoghurt and sweet garlic - get some.
Yes very nice these are Pakoras and you can use anything that comes to hand really, Potato, Mushrooms peppers etc. One of my favourites is mashed up prawns with fresh corriander , cayenne pepper, and then put into balls and covered in the batter and deep fried ;-)Augergines are very adept to a bit of gram flour.
slice thinly salt aubergines, leave for an hour, wash and drain. Pat HARD to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
Mix gram flour with the same ingredients as for a bhaji. Press aubergines into the mix and cook in a frying pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Cook each side until deep caramel brown and you will get the delicious crunchy coating of the flour and the creamy deliciousness of meltingly good aubergine in the middle.
Great with yoghurt or if you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells yoghurt and sweet garlic - get some.
drivin_me_nuts said:
In a similar vein.
Augergines are very adept to a bit of gram flour.
slice thinly salt aubergines, leave for an hour, wash and drain. Pat HARD to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
Mix gram flour with the same ingredients as for a bhaji. Press aubergines into the mix and cook in a frying pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Cook each side until deep caramel brown and you will get the delicious crunchy coating of the flour and the creamy deliciousness of meltingly good aubergine in the middle.
Great with yoghurt or if you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells yoghurt and sweet garlic - get some.
Brinjal Bhaji.Augergines are very adept to a bit of gram flour.
slice thinly salt aubergines, leave for an hour, wash and drain. Pat HARD to squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
Mix gram flour with the same ingredients as for a bhaji. Press aubergines into the mix and cook in a frying pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Cook each side until deep caramel brown and you will get the delicious crunchy coating of the flour and the creamy deliciousness of meltingly good aubergine in the middle.
Great with yoghurt or if you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells yoghurt and sweet garlic - get some.
Bhindi Bhaji (Okra) done with a small amount of gram and the spices is also lovely, just needs the faintest of flash fries, in/out
Roop said:
This is my recipe. My Bhaji's are legendary round here (oo-err).
250g Gram flour. CHECK
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced. CHECK
3 tbsp greek yoghurt. CHECK
2 tsp ground cumin. CHECK
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes). CHECK
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper. CHECK - Using this years home grown :jum:
1 tsp fenugreek seeds CHECK
1 tsp dried ground coriander. CHECK
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped. CHECK
1 tsp salt Mmmmmm - may reduce this a bit due to blood pressure
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper. CHECK
Looks like I'm all ready to go 250g Gram flour. CHECK
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced. CHECK
3 tbsp greek yoghurt. CHECK
2 tsp ground cumin. CHECK
1 tsp chilli powder (not flakes). CHECK
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper. CHECK - Using this years home grown :jum:
1 tsp fenugreek seeds CHECK
1 tsp dried ground coriander. CHECK
2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped. CHECK
1 tsp salt Mmmmmm - may reduce this a bit due to blood pressure
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper. CHECK
Bhajis as starter with salad followed by Rogan Murghi, Plain Rice, Carrot Salad and Spiced Green Beans. Not sure what I'm having for afters - may not have room !
[edit]Not tried these yet but think I might replace the fenugreek with fennel next time - think that could work really well[/edit]
[edit2]Production suspended due to Top Gear as I missed it on Sunday as I was at work[/edit2]
[edit3]Absolutely fan-bloody-tastic - eaten far too many and saved the rest for the guys at work tomorrow. Hope they like them as much. They do have to be fairly small otherwise they do not cook through before the outside gets too brown. Going to do the fennel version next[/edit3]
Edited by Bob the Planner on Wednesday 26th November 19:25
Edited by Bob the Planner on Wednesday 26th November 21:15
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