Topic: What do we KNOW about BIR Onion Bhajis?

[chriswg]

Well I'm still trying to perfect an onion bhaji which is crazy as every Indian chef I have ever asked has told me how easy they are "its just onion, gram flour, cumin seeds and coriander, make a thick batter and drop into hot oil" or words to that effect. If it was that bloody easy then everyone could make them!?!

So, collectively what do we 100% know are in a BIR Bhaji?

Obviously onion, but what kind? Are the big ones that come in 3 packs okay or are the smaller ones tastier? Indians use a lot of red onion so could that be better? I assume small yellow onions are best but I assume a BIR will buy in trays full of large ones to keep costs down.

Secondly (and not everyone might agree), I'm certain that most BIR bhajis have potato in them. They will usually be cut into thin matchsticks and added to the batter. I have no idea on ratio of potato to onion though. Best guess would be something like 80% onion to 20% potato but it could just as easily be 50/50. The last 3 Indian restaurants I have eaten in (including the one that gave me the lesson) all said they have potato in them.

The flour has to be gram flour but will sometimes have an extra flour (rice / potato etc) which apparently makes them crispier. I have tried adding rice flour and didnt notice any change. I doubt many BIRs bother with this.

The spices must include turmeric to get the yellow colour and everyone seems to mention cumin seeds. Beyond that, there is probably 10 other ingredients that could be added but again I think the BIR will only probably add 4 or 5 in total. I would guess coriander powder, fresh coriander, pinch of chilli powder or paprika, possibly a pinch of hing / asafoetida and maybe some methi leaves.

Cooking method - they need to be cooked at a fairly low temperature although perhaps not as low as I first thought. Around the 150 - 160 degree mark is right. When a BIR cooks them, they will put in 8 or 10 into a fryer at a time which will really drop the temperature by up to 20 degrees before it comes back up again. I was told the chef will know by looking at them if the temperature is right. We also know that a BIR will cook a big batch of them during the day and leave them to go cold ready for a flash fry when they are ordered. This will probably be at maybe 180 for a minute or 2.

So, if we know 95% of how they cook them and whats in them, why do ours always taste so poor? I used to think it was down to the oil, but apparently they use fresh oil for them regularly. Why, when I squash mine flat do bits of the raw ingredients spill out and then cook differently to the rest of the bhaji? BIR ones always look so much better.

Most importantly, how do they pack in so much flavour? You can never really taste a strong onion taste, or taste gram flour, they are just crispy on the outside and moist in the middle with a lovely, slightly greasy spicy taste. I find it really hard to get the onions cooked well enough through the middle without burning the outside and without them tasting stewed. We know BIR's don't pre fry them so what is the secret? Maybe I'm cooking them too much at the initial stage, maybe 3 - 4 mins at 150 degrees is enough and they continue to cook while the cool on the side? Even if the cooking method is right, how do you get that much flavour in them without going overboard with the spices? What is the main taste in the Bhaji? Is it coriander? Cumin? Fennel seeds?

One other interesting point I heard on Friday when I was trying out a new BIR was the fact they use besan flour and besan paste in their bhajis. I was pretty drunk at the time so didnt pursue this avenue any further even though the chef was happy to share. Infact they listed all the ingredients but all I heard was the besan paste part. Im sure not evey BIR uses it, but it could be an interesting ingredient. Presumably it is just crushed cooked chickpeas (or maybe Humous as a lazy alternative). I also have bought a tin of chickpea Dahl which I figured might be a nice shortcut to getting more taste in them if I crush it up and add the paste to the bhaji batter.

More than any other Indian dish, Bhajis should be the easiest thing to replicate at home. If everyone can post what they 100% know that BIR's use or do to cook Bhajis then between us we should have enough knowledge to perfect the recipe.

Please post as much as you can. The more we know, the better the final result will be and the quicker we can get there!

(sorry for such a long post)

[Cory Ander]

Secondly (and not everyone might agree), I'm certain that most BIR bhajis have potato in them.

I've never heard of onion bhajis having potato in them.

Maybe he meant potato flour?

Maybe he was joking?

Maybe he was referring to vegetable pakoras?

Maybe he meant chips!

[joshallen2k]

Chris, the CP recipe works for me. They are BIR quality. No need to continue the bhaji quest for me. You may, of course have different tastes.

If only CTM was that easy...


-- Josh

[CurryOnRegardless]

Besan is just another name for gram flour. Go easy on the turmeric as it burns easily and can give a bitter taste. A little bicarb added to the batter may help lighten the bhajis but don't over do it. Keep the spicing to a minimum, one T/A round here only uses fennel seed and they make some of the best OBs I've ever had. Finally, controversial bit, try soaking the sliced onion in sugared water before adding to the batter and don't forget to under cook them as they go on cooking after coming out of the oil. HTH.

Regards
CoR
 

[chriswg]

Cory - Only one of the restaurants advertised the bhaji as having potato in, but all 3 did. I think its pretty common in this area, it could be a regional thing to Surrey / Hampshire though.

Josh, the CP recipe really didn't do it for me. I want bhajis that look like this:



Not this:



CoR - I think the Turmeric tip is a good one. I usually use plenty but they do often taste bitter. I also, really like the sugared water idea. Where did you hear the tip? I figured the way most BIR bhajis look when they are cooked, they must be fairly soft when they are formed. Presumably doing this will have the desired effect.

[Cory Ander]

So what's wrong with these then?

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1820.0;attach=1102

[Cory Ander]

Cory - Only one of the restaurants advertised the bhaji as having potato in, but all 3 did.

Sorry Chris, I don't understand what you are trying to say?

I am also from the South of England (including Hampshire) and have never seen slices of potato in an onion bhaji...sorry.

[chriswg]

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.

[Cory Ander]

....but I thought you had the perfect onion bhajis already Chris? I remember your mate's post verifying that fact? 

Potato is as essential as gram flour to the success of the bhaji

B*llocks!  Lose the potatoes for Chr*sts sake!   :

[chriswg]

I've never 'seen' the potatoes in the bhajis either (even though I have been specifically looking for them) but they are definitely in there. The head chefs themselves have told be so!!!

If you are ever near Fleet, go to the Golden Triangle and order an onion and potato bhaji. It will look and taste exactly like a regular onion bhaji, but as the name suggests, it has potato in it.

If you aren't willing to consider other ideas then what is the point of you being here? Anything that is different to one of your recipes is wrong apparently!

Why don't you cook a couple of batches this evening and put some potato in one of them and compare the results. Then maybe we can have a constructive discussion about the merits of using such an ingredient.