;D

Looks nice!

Do you leave the cardamoms and cloves in and eat them, or do you fish them out? For me there is nothing worse than munching down on a whole clove in Pilau rice.

Quote from: Panpot on September 15, 2009, 05:48 PM
...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.

I have some onions in spiced gram flour in the fridge. I'll cook them in 4 - 5 hours time and see how they taste. I'll also go a bit crazy with the spice mix for half of the mix as per Haldi's post to see if there is any discernible difference.

I'll also cook some in my 'used' Crisp and Dry oil, and some in fresh KTC Vegetable Oil that all the BIR's seem to favour.

Hi Josh

Thanks for the comments and its very interesting to hear a BIR not precooking the bhajis.

Were you there long enough to roughly judge how long they were cooked for?

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.

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.

I've no idea but I bet it's got potato in 

I've not tried adding sugar to the spice mix, only soaking the onions in the sugared water. I'll give it a go next time.

I have tried CP's with and without potato - I preferred it with obviously! I think it is very good but not enough flavour for me.

Have you ever tried marinading the onions in the spices for a long time (4 hours+ or overnight)? I think that could help with the taste of the onions and it is quite possible a BIR would make up the mix in the morning and cook them off in the afternoon. What do you think? If anyone has tried it, let me know.

What is your local BIR CA? I'll give them a call and ask if they do.

I have tried yours, CP's and about a dozen from websites and books as well as another 20 versions from my own experiments. I came closest a couple of days ago but still only at 80% for taste and 90% for consistency. I'm sure I can get the consistency up to 100% with a very light salting before adding the flour.

They could be Pusa Jwala but they dont really look dark enough in colour.