Topic: What do we KNOW about BIR Onion Bhajis?

[joshallen2k]

My 2 cents on this thread.... I tried a few bhaji recipes until I tried the CP. To me, it hit the mark as close as I could want. The only difficult bit is in the getting the temperature/time right to have the right consistency between crust and center.

The taste is as good as I could want, and have scratched that one off my BIR list. Its one of those recipes I'm skeptic to veer from, as if I know the result would be inferior. After all... its just an appetizer. I'd rather focus on solving Madras or CTM.

Chriswg - the only thing I can think of is that somewhere along the road you experienced some super-duper-potato onion bhaji and are looking to recreate. I really hope you manage to recreate it, but I don't think its everyday BIR which is the general goal...

[joshallen2k]

Half a takeaway carton of restaurant spice mix

Christ, Haldi - I hope that's a typo...

I think if I tried that, I'd be in the morgue as the first ever cumin and coriander overdose... and I'd be yellow from the turmeric...

[joshallen2k]

 

I make a post starting with "Christ" on my 666th post... speaking about my death... on September 11th.

Just noticed it now. I won't lose any sleep... thinking about the king prawns I bought for tomorrow's King Prawn Jalfrezi 

Might make some onion bhajis to start.

[haldi]

That strikes me as a very large amount of spice for the amount of onions used, unless they are giant onions?

That was what it looked like
The chef took an empty carton and scooped out the spice
Perhaps it was less, but that's what it looked like
As usual there weren't exact measurements of anything
I guess that comes with experience
The onions were a bit smaller than tennis balls

[976bar]

I make a post starting with "Christ" on my 666th post... speaking about my death... on September 11th.

Just noticed it now. I won't lose any sleep... thinking about the king prawns I bought for tomorrow's King Prawn Jalfrezi 

Might make some onion bhajis to start.

So tell us Joshallen......

Are you still in the land of the BIR or have you become a BIR "Gosht".............. 

[chriswg]

Hi Haldi

I love the post and those amounts certainly wouldn't result in bland bhajis! I'll give them a go soon and let you know my thoughts.

Do most people here cook their bhajis well in advance then recook later? I'm guessing while they cool to room temperature the onion will continue to soften. BIR Bhajis always seem to be very light in colour on the outside but cooked perfectly through the middle. Even at 140 degrees I cant replicate that.

[Panpot]

Guys, just a small point. I have always loved Bhajis though they tend not be available in my home city Glasgow so will enjoy cooking them sometime soon as a result of the thread here. I don't Know if this will help but it may. I have spent over 30 years attempting to master the making of true BIR ( admittedly Glasgow style ) Pakora without ever reaching my ideal until I got the unlikely tip from The Ashoka chef of not actually using water to create the batter but by leaving the dry ingredients for 4 or 5 hours the Gram flour seems to draw the liquid content from the vegetables particularly the onion.

This amazed me when I was in the kitchen as it was way beyond what I expected, not sure if this will help but I will look to do it when I get round to bhajis in the future. It certainly has made all the diference to my search

[chriswg]

Hi Panpot

Thanks for the great tip. I'll definitely try that soon. I imagine it would also make the onions very soft prior to cooking which would help get the soft texture that the BIR's seem to always achieve.

[Secret Santa]

BIR Bhajis always seem to be very light in colour on the outside but cooked perfectly through the middle. Even at 140 degrees I cant replicate that.

Join the club!   

[joshallen2k]

I'm not a massive bhaji aficionado - but I do have this to offer...

Where I live, there is "one" true BIR in a 50 miles radius, so when I eat out, I go there. Last Saturday I was there and ordered a chicken Vindaloo extra hot.

It was so hot I had to go for a walk to get some air. I wandered around the back of the restaurant and observed through the back door to the kitchen for a good five minutes. I saw all the usuals -- base gravy, tandoor, etc.

One thing I did definitely see was bhajis being fried to order. They had a bucket of onion/gram/spice mix and were simply forming balls and dropping them in the fryer.

Definitely no pre-cook. Their bhajis are excellent and consistent. Light outside, yet cooked through. Slightly larger than golf balls.

-- Josh