A freshly made onion bhaji is one of the finest things in life and surprisingly easy to make. The perfect bhaji is crispy on the outside and waffley on the inside with the perfume of Indian spices and fried onions, making this a fantastic snack or accompaniment to an Indian meal. I cooked them in healthier coconut oil and my friends that tried them loved the coconutty flavour the oil gave them. I serve them with wedges of lemon or lime and a sprinkle of fresh coriander, but they are equally good with mango or lime chutney, tamarind sauce or a cucumber raita.

Recipe

Makes about 8.

Ingredients:
2 medium red onions
A pinch of salt
2 minced garlic cloves
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon of tumeric
7 tablespoons of gram flour
Water, as needed
Coconut oil for frying
Salt and pepper

How:
Peel and thinly slice the onions, I use a mandolin, but a knife is fine, then place them in a bowl with the salt and mix well.
Now, add the garlic, curry powder, tumeric and gram flour.
Mix together by hand and start to add a tablespoon of water at a time till you have a sticky double cream oniony dough.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, about one inch deep till it is hot.
Then, one tablespoon at a time, drop balls of the bhaji mix into the oil, you might have to do this in batches.
Fry until golden brown, then flip over with a spoon and fry the other side until golden too.
Drain on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
Season with salt and pepper and serve straight away while still hot and crispy.

lastly…I sometimes serve the bhajis as a starter as they are a great start to an Indian dinner menu. There are lots of Indian dishes in my Indian section in the menu in the blog header.

I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl