Topic: What do we KNOW about BIR Onion Bhajis?

[976bar]

chriswg , I made some Onion Bhajis last night and although they looked great fromt the out side the inside was ' mushy ' do you know what causes this.

Hi EminJ,

That will almost certainly be not long enough in the pan. Incidently, both you and ChrisW, do you pan fry these or deep fry them?

Regards

Bob

Hi 976bar ,

I deep fry mine in the deep fat fryer and usually cook until light golden brown as they continue to colour once out of the fryer but I have not yet succeeded to get anywhere near BIR 

It sounds to me a likely combination of things here.

It's either the batter mixture being too thick, the vegetable matter being too thick or the oil being too hot and giving the appearance that the outside is done, therefore the inside must be done.

What size are the bhajis you are trying to cook?

When I did my Indian Cookery course, they said to heat the oil, then drop a few drops of the batter mixture into the hot oil. If it sinks to the bottom and then comes back up to the surface quickly then the oil is ready. This was based upon 4cm balls being prepared. If you are making bhajis bigger than this then you will need to experiment, but I hope this helps

[chriswg]

Hi Emin

I deep fry mine in a saucepan, once the oil is cool I pour it back into the bottle for next time.

If you were following the same recipe I was, the chance are you were cooking at too high a temperature - 180 degrees according to the recipe. For me this is much too high and by the time the bhajis look right, they aren't cooked through. I do mine at around 140 - 150 degrees at which they take around 7 - 8 minutes to go a golden brown.

You also need to make sure the batter is reasonably thin to help avoid some mushiness. I thought my initial batter was too thin as when I cooked my first 2 bhajis the edges broke off and needed to be fished out. I added more gram flour to thicken it up, but when they were all done the first 2 were by far the nicest.

Also, if the recipe didn't mention it, always chuck in a tsp or 2 of baking powder a few minutes before cooking. This helps lighten everything.

I hope this helps.

[emin-j]

Hi chriswg,

I fry at 160 d and use a good pinch of baking soda but the soda makes them a little ' spongey ' I feel , I have found my best results mixing gram and plain flour .

[chriswg]

I think the spongeyness comes from the batter being too thick rather than the baking powder. Next time you make a batch try starting off with the batter as runny as possible so it still sticks to the onion and potato. As long as they stay together in the pan they will be good.

I've not tried using plain flour too but I'll put it on the long list of things to try!

[Cory Ander]

I'm still somewhat tickled by this thread 

a)  I am pretty sure that most BIRs do not add potato to their onion bhajis  :

b)  I am pretty sure that most BIRs do not grate their onions (or, indeed, their potatoes  :)  I think they simply finely slice them.

c)  In my opinion,  the onion bhaji mixture (i.e. primarily onions, gram flour and minimal spices) should be AS THICK as possible (not thin!).  I (as someone else suggested to do) simmply add the ingredients (with no additional water) and leave the mixture, for a while, to allow the gram flour to absorb the moisture from the other ingredients.

d)  Avoiding "sponginess in the middle", is, IMHO, primarily due to a typical BIR "dual cooking process".  Pre-cook them (say, at 160C, for a couple of minutes), allow to cool, then fry them again, prior to serving.

[emin-j]

I'm still somewhat tickled by this thread 

a)  I am pretty sure that most BIRs do not add potato to their onion bhajis  :

b)  I am pretty sure that most BIRs do not grate their onions (or, indeed, their potatoes  :)  I think they simply finely slice them.

c)  In my opinion,  the onion bhaji mixture (i.e. primarily onions, gram flour and minimal spices) should be AS THICK as possible (not thin!).  I (as someone else suggested to do) simmply add the ingredients (with no additional water) and leave the mixture, for a while, to allow the gram flour to absorb the moisture from the other ingredients.

d)  Avoiding "sponginess in the middle", is, IMHO, primarily due to a typical BIR "dual cooking process".  Pre-cook them (say, at 160C, for a couple of minutes), allow to cool, then fry them again, prior to serving.

I'll try the ' dual cooking ' process and see if that works , I try to make the Bhajis dryish as I have seen video of Bhaji's being rolled by hand then dropped into the hot fat , but they tend to be a bit too wet to roll by hand . We made Pakoras at the Cooking Class I did and that mix was quite dry , the Chef just picked up some mixture with his fingers and dropped it into the hot fat and they were very nice.

Whats the thinking behind the ' dual cooking ' process then.

[chriswg]

There was a video online a while ago showing general scenes from an Indian kitchen one of which was a chef putting onion bhajis in the fryer. I seem to remember it was quite a runny mix but I can't for the life of me find it again.

[Stephen Lindsay]

Next time you make a batch try starting off with the batter as runny as possible so it still sticks to the onion and potato.

I make my batter the consistency of yoghurt and have repeatedly had good results with this approach.

[chriswg]

Hi Stephen

I agree, yoghurt consistency is probably a good example. I couldn't think of anything suitably runny, yet slightly thick.

Cory - I agree grating onion (and potato) would be silly. If you read my post I suggest using the slicing side of the grater to give thin consistent slices. I imagine the BIR's either use an electric slicer, or their chefs are suitably skilled to give the same results with a knife.

[Cory Ander]

Whats the thinking behind the ' dual cooking ' process then.

I would say twofold:

a)  To allow the insides to continue to cook (by heat conduction) without burning the outsides

b)  It's probably what many BIRs do to save time - i.e. have some precooked to be reheated to order