Flavourful onion bhaji recipe

This easy onion bhaji recipe is one for all those who love Indian cooking. It's a firm favourite in our house; I can make a batch to be enjoyed as part of a meal, or as snacks. Even better - here at Honest, we make buying spices in bulk easy so you can always have the ingredients on hand!

You don't need a deep fryer so don't worry if you don't have one or you'd prefer a slightly healthier alternative. I shallow fry in olive oil and it works well as long as you're on hand to turn them. 

Ingredients

Onions, thinly sliced with layers separated - 2 cups

Chickpea flour - 1 1/4 cups

Corn flour or rice flour - 1 tbsp (this is just added as a binding agent so is optional)

Salt - to taste

Ground turmeric - 1 tsp

Ground cumin - 1 tsp

Ground coriander - 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Green chillies, chopped - 1-2

Coriander leaves, chopped - a handful

Olive oil for frying

Method

1. Thinly slice onions and add to a mixing bowl.
2. Add chillies, spices, coriander leaves and salt to the same mixing bowl.
3. Squeeze the onion with your fingers (like kneading dough) while adding the chickpea flour. This helps the onions release some moisture.
4. Mix everything well so that the onions are coated with the flour.
5. The mixture will be fairly dry. Add a very small amount of water, little by little, and mix until you have a moist mass of dough. The dough must be tight but moist; not soggy like batter or else they will absorb a lot of oil during frying.
6. Heat the oil in the fryer/pan at a medium-high heat.
7. Shape small bhajis in your hands and add to the hot oil.
8. Don't add too many at a time; you'll need space to stir and flip them. 
9. Fry until crisp and brown.
10. Transfer to absorbent towel to soak up excess oil.
11. Serve as them as they are or with a chutney (tamarind-based and green chutneys work well).
12. Enjoy!

Many thanks to our good friends at Bombay Palace for sharing this wonderful onion bhaji recipe. We strongly recommend visiting them at one of their branches in Queenstown, Frankton, Wanaka and Invercargill. It's always a delicious meal and great service!