Ok, this is so fun right now…I’m driving across the desert from Arizona to California for our spring break family vacation and I’m able to post my recipe! I love it! I love technology. I’m so glad I’m in the technology field! Speaking of work, I have the amazing opportunity to travel internationally with my job. Here recently, I was in London and I’m so excited to go back in a couple of weeks! The people I meet while traveling are just amazing! While on my last trip in London, one of my colleagues and I went out to dinner to recap on some of our meetings and we got on the topic of native food in London. He told me all about “mushy peas” and “sticky toffee pudding” and told me I must try them while in the UK. Ok, I’m embarrassed to say that I had never heard of these dishes before. We then started talking about Steak and Kidney pies, I guess I had an odd look on my face because he slowed down and started describing the different ingredients in detail. He was talking about Besan flour and I’m like, wait….what? He said you know…Chickpea flour. It’s 100% gluten free. He was right in explaining these dishes and ingredients to me because I had never heard of them before and I’m supposed to be a foodie!! A little embarrassing, let me tell you!
It was a good thing though…it peaked my interest so much that I asked him to send me some native UK recipes so I could venture out and make some of these fantastic sounding dishes he was talking about!
When I got home, I had this recipe sitting in my inbox. I have never heard of Onion Bhajis before, so I did some research and I was a little intimidated to make these based on what I was reading. People were stating that the batter is hard to master. Ignoring what I was reading online, I started making my batter with the herbs and dropping these into the oil. Let me tell you…these Onion Bhajis came out perfect! The batter was absolutely perfect!
So what are Onion Bhajis? Well – here in the states they remind me of onion rings. They are really more like onion pieces. They’re fabulous….oh my goodness so good dipped in ranch or ketchup!
Ok let’s talk about the ingredients in this one. This recipe calls for Gram flour, which is also sometimes called Besan flour. It’s chickpea flour and it’s 100% gluten free. Mixed with the rice flour and herbs, the batter was so crispy and just perfect! Not soggy or oily at all! The other thing I really like about this recipe is that you can play with the “heat” in this one. For a milder taste, mild green chillies work well. If you want more spice, just switch your pepper out with a hotter one like Habanero or Jalapeno. I can’t wait to make these for our next football game! These will be perfect for pre-game appetizers.
These are super easy and it doesn’t take long to make these. I can’t wait to post more yummy recipes I experience while in London, but until then Happy Eats with these Onion Bhajis! Big shout out and thank you to Patrick Lynch on this recipe!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Besan flour
- 1/4 cup Rice flour
- 1 Tablespoon ghee or butter,, melted
- Juice of 1/4 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon dried turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1-2 hot green chillies (to taste), finely minced
- 2 teaspoons root ginger, finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- small bunch of coriander, chopped
- 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
- Vegetable or Canola oil, to cook
Directions
1. Add the flours to a mixing bowl. Stir in the ghee and lemon juice and just enough cold water to bring it to the consistency of double cream. Stir in the spices and herbs and salt to taste. Stir in the onions so they are well coated.
2. Heat the oil in a large deep pan. Drop a small piece of batter into the oil to test it. The batter should sizzle as it hits the oil and it should then float.
3. Drop in about 15 onion pieces at a time into the oil. Using a spoon to rough the balls of the onion mixture of the oil a few at a time. Cook for about four minutes, turning occasionally, until crisp and golden. Line a plate with a paper towel. Remove the Onion Bhajis from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on the paper towel. Let cool and then serve.
- 1/2 cup Besan flour
- 1/4 cup Rice flour
- 1 Tablespoon ghee or butter , melted
- Juice of 1/4 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon dried turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds coarsely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1-2 hot green chillies finely minced, to taste
- 2 teaspoons root ginger finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- small bunch of coriander chopped
- 2 onions halved and thinly sliced
- Vegetable or Canola oil to cook
- Add the flours to a mixing bowl. Stir in the ghee and lemon juice and just enough cold water to bring it to the consistency of double cream. Stir in the spices and herbs and salt to taste. Stir in the onions so they are well coated.
- Heat the oil in a large deep pan. Drop a small piece of batter into the oil to test it. The batter should sizzle as it hits the oil and it should then float.
- Drop in about 15 onion pieces at a time into the oil. Using a spoon to rough the balls of the onion mixture of the oil a few at a time. Cook for about four minutes, turning occasionally, until crisp and golden. Line a plate with a paper towel. Remove the Onion Bhajis from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on the paper towel. Let cool and then serve.
Leave a Reply