Topic: CWG's Onion Bhaji Recipe v1.0

[chriswg]

Hmm, pictures wont upload for some reason. They are only 212k each. Any ideas anyone?

[JerryM]

chriswg,

just to sumarise on the ingredient changes for v1.1 : more turmeric turmeric, less cumin, no lemon juice, crush fennel.

i like the changes although i had no problem with the lemon.

thinking more of the BIR taste have u any thoughts on what it's down to. i'm thinking it could be down to the onion seed as the other spice tastes i feel i have a handle on.

[chriswg]

I've just uploaded my bhaji pictures to my Picasa account. I cant upload them onto here, or imbed them. If anyone can imbed them for me then please do.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chriswg/OnionBhajis#

[JerryM]

i followed panpots suggestion of mixing everything together and then leaving it for several hrs to soften and the water in the onion to make the batter ie add no extra water.

Panpot suggested around 4 to 5 hrs. i left mine most of the day probably about 7 hrs.

The method worked a treat. I simply can't believe such a simple change can make such a huge difference. The bhajis were as good as my local TA.

I actually found that i had to cook them longer than normal to get the centre to cook through (not to be too soft). I normally wait till they float but that's not long enough. i did not time it but around 5 mins feels sort of ball park. I cooked at 160C.

I used chriswg's rev 2 recipe and 976bar's mint sauce.

Cheers Panpot.

[976bar]

i followed panpots suggestion of mixing everything together and then leaving it for several hrs to soften and the water in the onion to make the batter ie add no extra water.

Panpot suggested around 4 to 5 hrs. i left mine most of the day probably about 7 hrs.

The method worked a treat. I simply can't believe such a simple change can make such a huge difference. The bhajis were as good as my local TA.

I actually found that i had to cook them longer than normal to get the centre to cook through (not to be too soft). I normally wait till they float but that's not long enough. i did not time it but around 5 mins feels sort of ball park. I cooked at 160C.

I used chriswg's rev 2 recipe and 976bar's mint sauce.

Cheers Panpot.

Those Bhaji's look delicious, well done Jerry

[chriswg]

Hi Jerry

The bhajis look excellent. I found Panpots suggestion was a good way of getting the onions soft so you can mould them a bit easier, its amazing just how much water comes out of the onions.

Next time you make a batch, humour me and add in some very thinly sliced and matchsticked potato (use the slicing blade on the cheese grater if you have one). It would be great to hear your feedback on it. For me, it really improves the texture of the inside of the bhaji. When you are eating them, you would never know they have potato in.

[JerryM]

chriswg,

it has crossed my mind before that there might be potato in some bhajis.

just for interest i will give it a try. the trouble is i don't see the potato melting in the same way the onion does over the 5 hr resting period - the pieces would have to be quite small to mix in to the extent they are not detectable.

the 3 of us really saw no need for any further improvement being as good as what we get from our local TA.

[chriswg]

The trick is to get it really thin so the pieces are quite flexible. When you moult and fry your bhajis you wont even know they are in there, but the overall bhaji will (IMO) taste better.

It sounds like you have a pretty high bar set now for bhajis. Whether you think the potato improves the bhaji or not, at least you will be able to cross it off you perfect BIR list.

[Cory Ander]

it has crossed my mind before that there might be potato in some bhajis

Why??? 

i don't see the potato melting in the same way the onion does

Onions DO NOT MELT Jerry (nor, as you correctly point out, do potatoes!)!  :

[chriswg]

Perhaps melting isn't exactly the right word, but the onion really softens over the 4 hours. The potato doesn't break down in the same way, but you wont notice if they are thin enough.