Topic: CWG's Onion Bhaji Recipe v1.0

[JerryM]

i'd thought about potato in the past having eaten much of it in the mashed form before becoming aware of pasta and rice.

the BIR bhajis as stated much already are crisp on the outside but soft on the inside - producing for me a to die for combination.

before panpots suggestion of leaving the onion mix for the 4 to 5 hrs i'd always found the onion too hard to compress into a ball. on Saturday having followed the instruction and actually left the mixture the whole day ~7hrs i just could not believe the difference - ok they hadn't melted but the softness made all the difference.

chriswg - i will give the potato a go. at least then i'll know if it is or isn't in the ones i get from the TA.

[chriswg]

I finally got round to trying the 'leave the bhajis for 8 hours after their first cook' idea. And I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. I cooked them in the morning for only a couple of minutes to get the batter set and a slight golden colour, then the went on a plate in the cupboard (room temperature) for the rest of the day. At curry time they got another quick dunk in the hot oil to heat through.

The was much more mushy on the inside and there wasn't any hint of rawness to them. the outside was nice and crisp with a lovely fried onion taste. Cooking them like this also ensures none of the spices got burned at any time either.

It sounds fairly obvious now I have tried it. Every BIR in the country pre cook their bhajis, normally at least half a day, sometimes 36 hours ahead of their useage. Everyone should give this a go and see what a big difference it makes.

[chriswg]

Not the best picture ever, but the bhajis tasted excellent.

You should be able to click on the picture for a bigger version.

[Chilli]

Dont know if it's been mentioned before in this post but you need to fry the onions first to soften them before they go into the spice batter.

Maybe adding the spice to the onions to soften them may give you the flavour your looking for. and crispness

[gazman1976]

you ( DONT ) fry the onions first, in the BIR kitchens they certainly dont do it that way !!! they mix them up in a large bowl and then drop them into their fryers turning them as they cook a couple of times

only reason i know this is because i have been in the kitchen watching them cook them

[Chilli]

The post was to make an earlier recipe better. 

Not frying first will make the Bhaji's crisp on the ouside soggy in the middle.

Soak in the batter then dip the mix onto spiced flour roll into balls and fry.

Spot on

[chriswg]

Hi Chilli

We are both solving the same problem in very similar ways. You are pre-frying then adding to the batter. I am adding to the batter and then pre-frying. I am certain that the BIR's use my method as it is quicker and easier for cooking in bulk. For small batches at home then maybe your method works as well. I did once try the pre-fried onions and I personally wasn't satisfied with the results.

Next time you make some try combining a couple of ideas on here by adding the dry spices to the chopped onion (and finely matchsticked potato) and leaving for a few hours to draw out the water from the onion. Dont use too much salt though or the results wont be very nice. Then add the gram flour to make the batter with no extra water unless needed. Then give them a quick fry. Leave to cool for a few hours. Then give them a final cook when ready to eat.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really isnt. you just need to start the first stage either early in the morning, or the previous night.

[matt3333]

Hi Chilli


Next time you make some try combining a couple of ideas on here by adding the dry spices to the chopped onion (and finely matchsticked potato) and leaving for a few hours to draw out the water from the onion. Dont use too much salt though or the results wont be very nice. Then add the gram flour to make the batter with no extra water unless needed. Then give them a quick fry. Leave to cool for a few hours. Then give them a final cook when ready to eat.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really isnt. you just need to start the first stage either early in the morning, or the previous night.

Hi Chris
I use the method you refer to above and it produces spot on results, particularly the pre cooking and then the final cook later.
I have also found that experimenting with cooking temperature is important, to hot and the outside cooks to quickly and leaves the middle uncooked, not hot enough and they can get a bit soggy.
All just trial and error, I also freeze mine after the  first pre cook  then defrost and either finish in the oven or back in the fryer.
My ramblings FWIW.
Matt

[chriswg]

You ramble away all you like. Its the best way for us all to learn. I bought a thermometer just for bhaji cooking and I usually aim for 140 degrees. This is quite a lot cooler than most suggest but for me it works well. I can do the first fry for 5 mins without any hint of burning on the outside. The final cook I may go as high as 150 degrees, but I think any higher and those spices burn in about 30 seconds.