Made Onion Bhajis From Scratch
30th December 2022 - New Experience Number 43.
To go with the samosas that I made from scratch for the first time, I thought I’d also make onion bhajis. These were another snack or side dish that I really enjoy, but I’d never made them myself.
This was really really easy, although they surprised me with the shape!
Bhaji Boasts
I am familiar with onion bhajis, yet bahjis are fritters that come with many different variations. Alternatives to the regular onion bhaji I always opt for include potato, plantain and the fiery sounding chilli bhaji.
I am familiar with onion bhajis, yet bahjis are fritters that come with many different variations. Originating in Southern Asia around India, alternatives to the regular onion bhaji I always opt for include potato, plantain and the fiery sounding chilli bhaji.
Apparently the Guinness World Record for the biggest onion bhaji ever made is 175.48 kilograms. I definitely didn’t have enough room in the kitchen for that, and there was only two of us in the house so we’d never have got through it all, so mine was a much more modest bake.
Making An Onion Bhaji From Scratch
I was going to make a straightforward, regular sized, onion bhaji. I used a pre mixture that I had picked up from Rafi’s Spice Box. It’s a fantastic shop in York that sells a menagerie of spices to make all sorts of exciting and incredible tasting curry dishes and accompaniments.
The instructions were very straight forward. First off was chopping the onion finely, then adding the mix and some water.
Cooking simply involved dropping spoonfuls of the mix into hot oil – taking care not to get spat at by the sizzle as they simmered.
Hot Stuff
It didn’t take long in the heat for the mix to turn a delicious shade of brown. Carefully removing them I placed them onto kitchen roll to dry off the excess oil.
They hadn’t turned into the shape and style I was used to. I’m more familiar with the appearance that is more like a flat nest, with the pieces of onion still visible and jutting out
Mine were quite smooth, flat and round. Perhaps more onion would have helped them to look less like an pancake. So the texture was a little unusual. The taste, however, was spot on! A delicious mildly spicy flavour. Perfect for a cosy winter evening snack!
Next is for me to try and make the spice mix myself, and try some different variations to the onion version!
Want To Try It Yourself?
The mix I used to make my onion bhajis was from Rafi’s Spice Box who have an abundance of spices and mixes available for delivery. They also have shops in York, Harrogate, Newcastle, Leeds and Sudbury.
You can pick up many different spice mixes from various places, or you could look on line to find a recipe that you like the look of to make them yourself.
Cost Of Experience
These were really inexpensive to make. The mix I got from Rafi’s which made enough to serve 2-4 people cost around £2.
I already had some onions in the cupboard, but they are very cheap to buy, so you could make these tasty treats for under £3 for the ingredients.
Recommendations
Maybe use a bit more onion than recommended so they don’t turn out as flat and pancake like as mine did.
Try varying the ingredients and seeing what works for you. I’m definitely going to try potato bhajis!
Be careful of the hot oil when you fry them
- Don’t forget to share any pictures if you do try and make them, it would be great to see how they turn out!