Onion Bhaji. Bring the authentic taste of Indian street food to your appetizer/snack menu with these crispy onion fritters. Naturally gluten free and vegan, these bhajis are a delicious starter for your next meal and a great accompaniment to your afternoon tea. What do you call these deliciously crispy bites? Onion pakora, kanda bhaji, pyaz ke pakode or kanda bhajia? Well, who doesn’t want to indulge in deep fried goodies when the rain is pouring outside? The heavenly combo of spiced fritters and piping hot chai is simply divine.
How To Make Onion Bhaji
Start with the onions. Peel and slice them as thinly as possible. The slices need to be super thin to make the perfectly crispy bhajis. Now place these onions in a bowl and sprinkle with a little salt. Using your fingers, gently massage salt into the onion slices. At the same time, you’ll also need to separate the slices. Keep this aside for about 15 minutes. The onions will absorb the salt and turn very soft. This is another special secret to guarantee super crispy onion bhaji.After 15 minutes, you can add in the remaining ingredients for deep frying the bhajis. To begin with, add green chilies, coriander (cilantro) leaves and minced fresh ginger. Green chilies are totally optional in this recipe, add them only if you want really spicy bhajis.Next up, add in the spices – ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground carom seeds and red chili powder. Stir everything really well. Once the spices are incorporated into the onion mixture, you can add the flours.For this onion bhaji recipe, you will need two different kinds of flours – besan or gram flour and rice flour. Both the flours are 100% gluten free, so this is a great recipe to add to your gluten free diet. Besan flour is made from chickpeas and is easily available from your local grocery store or Indian store.When you add salt to onions, they turn soft by releasing water. You can use this to mix the flours into onion mixture. If you need more water, just sprinkle with a little water.Now, onto the frying part of this recipe. You have three options here – deep fry, air fry or bake. Depending on your preference, fry these bhajis anyway you like.And finally, serve with your favorite chutney.
More Classic Indian Snack Recipes:
Stuffed Chilli Pakora | Chilli Fritters Besan Dhokla | Steamed Gram Flour Cake Uzhunnu Vada | Urad Dal Fritters | Medu Vada Parippu Vada | Masala Vada| South Indian Lentil Cakes Kothimbir Vadi | Coriander Leaves Fritters Kerala Banana Chips Kerala Banana Fritters |Pazham Pori | Ethakka Appam Sukhiyan | Battered Sweetened Green Gram
Like this onion bhaji recipe? Then join Nish Kitchen on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Watch exclusive recipe videos on YouTube. Air fry bhajis at 180C or 359F for 12-18 minutes. Turn them halfway through cooking to ensure even browning. To make in oven: Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the onion mixture. Preheat oven to 220C or 425F.Place spoonfuls of onion mixture on a baking sheet. Spray with a little oil. Bake for 20- 25 minutes or until the bhajis are crisp and golden.
It’s very important that the onions are cut into super thin slicesCarom seeds or ajwain is available from major grocery stores or your local Indian grocery storeThis recipe is gluten free and veganYou can substitute rice flour with corn flour if you like. But I highly recommend using rice flour for best resultsGreen chillies are optional in this recipe. You can add them for more heat.Feel free to play with the spices. You can substitute the spices in this recipe with your favorites like curry powder, cajun seasoning etc.Make sure you fry the bhajis over medium heat. Low heat will make them soggy while high heat may burn them quickly.
