Oh my. The big debate for me has always been: onion rings or French fries? French fries or onion rings? But now... I think the debate has changed for me. The question is onion rings or...onion bhaji?!?!
Onion bhaji are basically sliced onions dipped in a spiced batter then deep-fried. The ones I had are from a local restaurant, and though they were a little salty, they were fabulous with a heavy slathering of raita and super spicy chutney.
It must not be that difficult to make, or at least not any more difficult than regular onion rings. I have found a few resources: Onion Bhaji at Recipeazaar, Fresh Approach Cooking, and Death by Curry.
6-29-2006 @9:12PM Nivedita said... Aaiyayiyayiyayiyah! Good effort all, but here's the real deal:
Ingredients: 2 large onions, 2/3 Cup chickpea flour (go to an Indian grocery for this - it might be labelled "besan"; pronounced bay-sun) red chilli powder, turmeric, organo seeds (labelled "ajwain" in Indian grocery), salt, oil for deep frying.
Peel and halve onions lengthwise and then slice lengthwise into 1/8 inch slices. Set oil to heat in deep fryer. Mix about 2/3 C besan with salt, chilli powder and turmeric to taste. Crush a very large pinch of oregano seeds in the palm of one hand with the thumb of the other to release aroma and add to the besan mixture. Add water to make a thick pancake like batter and then dilute with a tablespoon of water at a time to get to a heavy cream consistency. Check if oil is hot by dropping a tiny bit of batter in oil - The batter should immediately sizzle and rise to the top. Using a clean dry utensil, quickly but carefully add about 2-3 tablespoons of this nearly smoking hot oil to the batter. It will sizzle - carefully whisk it into the batter. (Adding hot oil makes the bhajis crisp.) In batches, add about 1/4 of the sliced onions into the batter to coat and drop clumps of battered slices into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd or they'll all stick together and form one big bhaji. Fry, turning occassionally until uniformly browned as in above picture. Drain and gobble that batch while you work on the next batch! If I was way off on the amount of besan needed for 2 large onions, you'll find out. ;)
If you do go to that Indian grocery store, look for this Indian style ketchup - Maggi Hot'n'Sweet Tomato Ketchup. That's my favorite store-bought accompaniment for bhajis.
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6-29-2006 @10:56PM rainey said... Nivedita- Thanks for your own bhajis recipe. Got ones you'd share for samosas and pakoras?
And, Sarah- Thanks so much for bringing it up! Onions bhajis are, truly, food of the gods.
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6-30-2006 @2:50AM jaygee said... Its a refreshing sight to see such innatly Indian preparations on blogs when u least expect it... u know .. these savoury preps can be made with many other vegetables... potatoes (of course), bell peppers (we call them capicum), cauliflower florets, cottage cheese cubes, aubergine slices, desseded chillies and leaves of spinach. .. best enjoyed on rainy days...:D
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6-30-2006 @11:16AM Barbara said... It is all about the bhajis and the pakora! I could eat them until I died--of culinary bliss, of course!
Sweet potatoes are good cooked this way, too.
My favorite dip for them is to make green chutney--cilantro, mint, onion, garlic, a bit of ginger and chili, ground together with some lime zest and lime juice. Truly refreshing.
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6-30-2006 @6:38PM Nivedita said... I have some more long winded comments on all of that and maybe even a recipe. I am at work though - so perhaps tomorrow..
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7-01-2006 @2:05PM Nivedita said... Rainey, you're welcome. Barbara, lime zest in green chutney sounds awesome!
In my mother's kitchen, bhaji and pakora were the same. However, after consulting with my husband who grew up in a different part of India, it seems like fried bhajis have a thick, soft outer skin (i.e a thick pancake like batter with some baking soda in it) whereas pakora would have a thin, crisp outer skin. So the recipe I posted above is for pakoras. To modify it for bhaji, you'd up the amount of besan, salt and chilli powder, reduce the amount of water, add a large pinch of baking soda, omit the oregano seeds.
As for other veggies, Jaygee is right on. Peeled potatoes sliced 1/8th inch crosswise make great pakoras. Bengalis make these scrumptious eggplant pakoras that have poppy seeds in the batter. Chilli pakoras - use those long pale green ones, make a lengthwise slit, remove seeds and membranes (or not) and sprinkle a little pinch of "chat masala" inside.
Samosa Recipe - my mom used to make samosas at home but the crust was never flaky enough. I am guessing she couldn't bring herself to use the amount of grease that was called for. So I wouldn't be able to provide a definitive recipe. But if you are open to experimenting until you get it right and just want a basic ingredients list and method as a starting point, lemme know.
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8-17-2006 @8:57PM MJ said... Pass that plate down to me! Great pics
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9-23-2006 @10:00PM CuriousPayPal said... Sad to see no one has pointed out that it is actually called - bhajiyaas. O well, great comments -everyone!
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9-24-2006 @11:36AM MJ said... I it me or does this seem like alot of work to do at hoem not to mention all the grease. Whe i fry at home it is a true mess. My family loves this and plain onion rings but what a mess i make. even fried chicken I usually purchase out. Beautiful pic!!!
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