Onion bhajis

I really like onions. Red. White. Yellow. And leeks. And green onions.

But they have one thing in common – cause extreme tearing. In my case, the feeling is so painful that I simply go blind for a few minutes. Sometimes the reaction is stronger. But nothing helps me. It happens. Such karma 🙂

However, the Almighty Admin has the power of painless chopping onions, so when we want something with a lot of nasty vegetables, I call for the help of the Almighty.

So it was in the case bhaji.

Let’s start from the beginning. What are bhaji?

It is snack fried in deep oil. Vegetables in a strongly flavored besan batter. So, besides Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, bhaji is known as… pakora.

Bhaji is a traditional appetizer administered as an addition to salads, sprinkled with lemon juice or with mango chutney.

In Maharashtra it’s considered as comfort food. In the rainy season they are often served for afternoon tea.

I served bhajis with spicy yogurt sauce.

Bhaji are vegan and gluten-free.

Winter this year is extremely hard to bear, definitely needs some comfort food.

Almighty decided that bhaji are much better than the US onion rings. There is no comparison – although fried in fat, bhaji not absorb fat (I think mainly due to the chickpea flour), they are also heavily seasoned.

You can chose spices, of course, your favorite. I opted for the simplest version – salt, pepper, paprika. When I did them the second time, I used a mixture of garlic (fresh and dried) and ginger. Also extremely good.

Onions, if not try to kill my eyes, is a vegetable amazing for seasoning.

I would definitely recommend you to try it. And remember – the dough is no star here. More onions! 🙂 Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

3 – 4 medium onions

2 cups flour chickpea (besan)

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon hot pepper

1 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 cup water

oil for frying (rice)

Preparation:

• Peel the onions and cut in half and then slice.
• Mix flour with baking powder and spices.
• Add the water and mix until you get a thick dough (such as pancakes). If the dough is too thick, add a little water.
• When the dough is ready, add the onion and stir until all the pieces of onion cover the cake.
• Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Warm up the oil in a frying pan (approx. 1 cm oil) and fry bhajis (like potato pancakes).
• You can drain off the excess fat from bhaji arranging them on a paper towel.

Serve with yogurt sauce, mango chutney or drizzled with lemon juice. Bon Appetit!