Topic: Bhajis !!

[mickyp]

Yep good luck Livo, the main things i have found important is stable oil temp, using a fair amount gives better temperature stability and also the consistancy of the mix, mixing all the spices including the salt and let the salt draw out the water from the onions, ...then add the gram and rice flour or whatever you are using until you have a sticky mix, golf ball size dollops in my experience has been best.
Give em all a short dip until light gold and fish them out, they will still cook for a bit, then give them all a second go to finish no more than 4 /5 at a time. good luck

[JonG]

My last attempt at Onion Bhajis was a big disappointment.  I really didn't see what all the fuss was about. I've spent a couple of hours this morning researching through this forum and linked youtubes, plus other recipes, and come up with some interesting variations on the theme. I'm going to spend some time today (raining outside) making some "starters".

I'm going to try a hybrid blend of about 4 or 5 different Bhaji recipes with some variable experimentation.

Sorry for going off topic, but I'll also be making a starter dish I made once before that went down a treat with the family.  It's a lot of work but the results are very tasty.  Malabar style Chicken Spring Rolls.  It's a lot of work because the wrappers are individually cooked on the tawa. I guess you could use frozen Chinese spring roll wrappers but last time the fresh cooked ones were really good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoW_dpjOdnQ 

Anyway, I'll report back on the Bhajis.

Look forward to hearing about it. I

[Peripatetic Phil]

Seems like bhajis are a dish where approximations rule and potentially we all cook a different versions even when following the same recipe.

I don't think that that phenomenon is restricted to onion bhajis, Jon.  Probably no cook uses an analytical balance, few have their thermostats or thermometers calibrated against a reference standard, and so on.  Whilst science undoubtedly underlies cookery, cookery itself is an art, and one in which the chef's experience and instincts are probably a more reliable guide than any prescriptive recipe could ever be, in part because the former can take into account factors such as the local temperature, pressure and humidity

[mickyp]

Jon I agree with you entirely, nothing winds me up more than seeing a recipe with 1 large onion, three medium carrots, a pinch of salt and a dash of worcester sauce grrrrrrrammmmms please.

With some things though as Phil say's there are so many variables,  dont try to make a large batch unless you really know what you are doing.

Also what i will say is after making some very bad ones and also might i say very good ones restaurants certainly have bad days at making them as well.

Small batches is the way to go, 12 at a time ish.

[mickyp]

Good effort and welcome, don't forget you can freeze em rather than scoffing, i agree with you on the smell of them, unfortunately ive been banished to cooking them outside

mickyp.
There is a method of cooking onion bargees without deep frying
 Fry the batch of onions in a pan then put in a bowl  add spices gram flour and water
Heat oven then put in oven tray with a sheet of baking paper with a spoon put dollops of onion mix on tray cook for 10 mins then remove and spray with a little oil cook for another 5 mins till done healthier not so oily and almost odour free

Hi Noble, thanks for that, personally i love the smell especially outside where the overhead hob vent outlet is, from there it wafts down the road

[livo]

Time got away from me after I decided to strip clean my double deap fryer and replace the used oil with fresh. I only managed 1 batch of bhajis mix along with the curry spring rolls.

The bhajis mix was a cross between this threads main recipe, Misty Ricardo's and Latif's.  I also chose to produce flat bhajis (dipuraja video style) to help ensure even cooking.  They were tasty. The family enjoyed them, but I again say that I'm a bit underwhelmed by them. I just don't experience any euphoria from onion bhajis. They are good but nothing amazing.

Perhaps it is cook's exposure but I didn't notice any real curry house aroma. I don't understand people being banned from cooking these indoors.

As for exactly quantified recipes, it's not really possible when dealing with this type of recipe. The moisture content of onions will vary. The flour used will vary. The size of eggs will vary. The humidity of the atmosphere will vary. The only way to do it is by feel and eye.

The Malabar style curry chicken spring rolls went down well again, although my wrappers didn't work out as well this time around. I'm going to try them in bought wrappers next time.  I didn't bother with breading them either due to time.

I'll put some photos up in a little while.

[livo]

Jon I agree with you entirely, nothing winds me up more than seeing a recipe with 1 large onion, three medium carrots, a pinch of salt and a dash of worcester sauce grrrrrrrammmmms please.

With some things though as Phil say's there are so many variables,  dont try to make a large batch unless you really know what you are doing.

Also what i will say is after making some very bad ones and also might i say very good ones restaurants certainly have bad days at making them as well.

Small batches is the way to go, 12 at a time ish.

I have recently been making  Archana's Kitchen beetroot hummus. The recipe calls for 4 beetroot to be roasted. I used my own common sense to reduce this amount and use only 1/4 of the beetroot I had.  It was obviously massively bigger than the ones used by the writer of the recipe. Had I used 4, I would have ended up with a bucket of beetroot mash with a little bit of chickpea.  It would not have been beetroot hummus.

[mickyp]

Quote from Livo
The bhajis mix was a cross between this threads main recipe, Misty Ricardo's and Latif's.  I also chose to produce flat bhajis (dipuraja video style) to help ensure even cooking.  They were tasty. The family enjoyed them, but I again say that I'm a bit underwhelmed by them. I just don't experience any euphoria from onion bhajis. They are good but nothing amazing.

They look good Livo, i use Misty's recipe and find them tasty, all my family like them, if you find they lack taste you can always up the spices, next time i might grind the fennel seeds a bit as the taste of a whole seed can be dominant.

[livo]

They were good, but do you know that feeling you get when you taste something and go 'oh wow'? It just isn't there.  I sort of expect these to be really tasty and morish, but they're not. They are nice and perfectly edible but to me there is just something missing. They don't have the savoury flavour hit that I seem to anticipate.

I can't really pinpoint it but to me they are just dull.  Maybe a sprinkle of Chaat Masala, or some sauce will lively them up, but I just have not been able to get them to meet expectations. Maybe they just need some extra salt. I'm not sure and having never eaten a bought one, I have no baseline to compare.

Is the Misty Ricardo recipe up to par?  If so I'm getting it right and so maybe I'm just expecting too much.

[mickyp]

Yeah Misty's are fine, i might add a couple of chopped chillies to the mix as per Latif's to give a little kick. I dont know if i am being over critical but when you see Latif put in a ts of salt in most of it goes to one place and i can't think how mixing it a bit can get it everywhere to draw the water from the onions.
In the past i have seen chefs throw the salt into the bowl so you get a spread, the same rule must apply for all the ther spices as well, if they are not mixed properly how will every bhaji be the same.
Lol maybe your family got the good ones and you got a wrong'un