I just cooked up 5 different batched of Bhajis. Each used 1/4 of a large onion which made 2 small bhajis per batch.
1 - plain onions, sticks of potato, 1tsp garam masala, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, small pinch of turmeric, salt and gram flour. cooked at 160 degrees.
This was the control batch as it is about as basic as they come. As predicted the taste was bland, it was overdone on outside and had a raw taste in the middle. 1 bite was enough!
2 - pre-salted and gram flour dusted onions that had been standing for about 15 minutes, 1tsp garam masala, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, small pinch of turmeric, and gram flour to make a stiff batter. Cooked at 150 degrees
This looked and tasted much better than the control but was a bit too salty. I put about a tsp of salt on the onions at the start which was probably a bit too much, half would have been better. I twice cooked one of these with the first cook only being about 3 minutes and the second being about 2. They seemed like they were cooked pretty well through although it was a little dark in colour after the 2nd cook.
3 - plain onions, 1tsp garam masala, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, pinch chilli powder, 1/2 green chilli chopped into rings + 2 MASHED COOKED NEW POTATOES. Cooked at 145 degrees.
This wasn't dissimilar to the control batch, but what a difference the mashed new potatoes made! The inside of the bhaji was much more moist and it lost the cake texture in favour of a much more BIR style feel. The spicing still wasn't right. I think in future I'll ditch the fennel seeds as they are a bit too aniseedy. The chilli taste and heat was very welcome and also helps cover up any spicing mistakes made.
4 - sugar soaked onions + same as number 1.
I didn't feel that the sugar soak brought a lot to the party. Maybe it needed longer (it had about half an hour) or maybe it needed more sugar (I used about 3 tsps). Unless I was doing something wildly wrong then I wont be bothering next time.
5 - left over fried onions from lunchtime hotdogs + spicing as number 1.
F*****g disgusting. Almost made me sick. Won't be pursuing that avenue again.
Lessons learned.
Cans of chickpeas or chickpea dhal when mashed up really stink and got thrown away before they went near the mixing bowl! It reminded me of fishing bait.
A light sprinkling of salt on the onions 10 mins before cooking definitely helps (As CP said it would). Just keep it light! I will definitely do this in future.
Potato is as essential as gram flour to the success of the bhaji. I know some will disagree without even trying it, but trust me - add mashed potato. I had a tin of cooked new potatoes in the cupboard that were ideal.
They have to be cooked at no higher than 150 degrees. Any more and they colour too quickly. After 4 minutes in the oil they should still be a very light golden colour. The second cook through (if required) should only take about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
If you are having them disk-shaped, make them into thin disks before putting them in the oil. Squashing them down later doesn't work very well.
Add the spices and flour to the onions before adding water. This way you can add tiny amounts of water at a time until they are really sticky.
Overall I think I have moved forwards. The next batch will be lightly presalted and will have crushed new potatoes in. chilli powder will stay, fennel seeds can go. Turmeric will stay very low amount. Fresh coriander would have given it a good lift too but I didnt have any handy. Methi leaves should have gone in too but I forgot. Also, I like lemon juice in them so I'll try some with and some without.
Any other thoughts or ideas would be very welcome and will be tried next week.
Topic: What do we KNOW about BIR Onion Bhajis? ( 56,229 )
