Topic: Dipuraja's Onion Bhaji Recipe

[chriswg]

I would recommend watching the video to judge quantities for yourself. He measures everything by eye and some of his tsps are pretty generous.

I'll be giving these a roadtest soon and will report back. Axe has already had a go but not with great success. I quite like the idea behind the method and some members on here will be pleased to see the cricket ball size of the finished bhajis.

Ingredients

2/3 medium onions
1 potato
1 tsp presoaked lentils
1 egg
1 tsp g/g paste
1 pinch salt
1 tsp methi leaves
1 tbsp mix powder (here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4354.0)
1 tbsp Kashmiri Masala
1 handful chopped fresh coriander
0.5 tsp dark orange food colouring
Gram flour to form very sticky batter

Slice the onions and chop the potato into matchsticks. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl. Now mix together gently do not squeeze the onions otherwise they will release their juice. Now add gram flour. Do not make your batter too runny, make sure the mix is thick. Pre-heat oil at 180 degrees celcius. Take a large handful of the mixture and gently roll into a ball (do not press hard). Place in the hot oil and cook until they rise to the surface of they oil. Once they have ,they are now pre-cooked. Drain the excess oil. Now to cook the onion bhaji reheat the oil to 180 degree celcius. Before placing in the oil gently press down the centre of the ball to allow to cook through to centre. Leave to cook for about 1-2mins now it should be ready to eat like your local Indian restaurant or take away.

How to make onion bhaji

[chriswg]

Okay so I couldn't wait to give them a try. I didn't have lentils or kashmiri masala and I didn't bother to substitute anything so I wasn't too interested in the flavour, I wanted to know if the method brought about the right texture.

I have to say, overall I was quite impressed, this is definately a step forwards for me. By keeping the bhaji loose with a very thick batter he oil can really get to the middle.

For me, the oil temp was too high at 180 but I think 160 will produce good results. At 180 they are browning in under a minute so you know the onion and potato wont be cooked. Sure enough the first batch was pretty raw after the second cook through.

The second batch at around 160 worked much better and was cooked through to the middle. I also gave up on trying to make fist sized ones in favour of palm sized ones.

I also think if you were to leave these for a few hours between first and second cook this would improve them even further.

Overall a good experiment and I think this will definitely form the basis of my final perfect recipe. Hopefully it wont take long from now to perfect.

[Malc.]

You obviously got on with it better than I did, its definitely a step in the right direction. I also wonder if I over cooked the first cook. I have a couple of questions Chris:

1. Do you know how much gram flour you used?
2. Did you have the Pataks Kashmiri Masala or your own mix?
3. How do you compare the flavour to BIR Bhaji?

Cheers,

Malc.

[chriswg]

Gram flour - no idea. I just shook some in - similar to how he did it. Once I start working on the recipe I'll be able to get proper measurements for onion, potato and gram flour. I didnt use much, the trick seems to be in getting the onion really sticky with the egg and giving it a dusting of flour to coat everything. That way the oil gets all the way through to the middle of the bhaji and cooks it.

PKM - didnt have any and didnt use a substitute. I was more interested in the method than the flavour.

Comparable to BIR? I sometimes ask for Bhajis extra crispy when I order to make sure they arent under done. These were on a par with those from a texture point of view. I think the recipe needs either cumin or fenugreek seeds to get a bit of aniseed flavour in there. I'll be buying some lentils and PKM so I can give this a proper go.

[Razor]

Good find Chris,

Interesting method too.  No water?  6:40 seconds from start to finish, very impressive.  Really shocked by there being no water in the batter.  I think this could be a major breakthrough for me, as I find it a bit hit and miss when it comes to adding the water. 

Another revelation for me is the Kashmir Masala.  I only ever use the stuff in my seekh kebabs but always end up having it in the fridge for months, so another use for it is good

I'm gonna give these a go soon but I will use CA's spice masala as I've got a barrel full ;D

Ray

[pforkes]

What is the "mix powder"?

[pforkes]

Is the "Kashmiri masala" the same as "Kashmiri mirch" i.e. red chili powder?

[Razor]

Is the "Kashmiri masala" the same as "Kashmiri mirch" i.e. red chili powder?

No, Kashmir masala comes in paste form, usual brands, Patak's, Pasco.....so on.  It is essentially a curry paste

Ray

[Cory Ander]

What is the "mix powder"?

"mix powder" is "spice mix" (or "curry powder") pforkes.

Dipuraja's "mix powder" recipe is here:  http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4354.0

Is the "Kashmiri masala" the same as "Kashmiri mirch" i.e. red chili powder?

"kashmiri masala" is also another type of "mix powder" aka "spice mix" aka "curry powder".  It is  not the same as "kashmiri mirch" which is "chili powder".

Confusing isn't it!  ;D

[Razor]

Hi CA,

What the chef uses in the video though, is Pataks Kashmiri masala paste, I have the same in my fridge.

Ray