I love Indian food, and it’s one of the easiest cuisines to make vegan, which makes me love it even more. Onion bhajis are a classic staple side dish, and yes, they’re easily picked up in any supermarket to reheat. But they’re incredibly affordable and easy to make from scratch, and this onion bhajis recipe is also gluten free – they should be, but a lot of store bought ones aren’t.
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Nutritional Information
They work out at roughly 80 calories each, but it’s not precise, depending on how much of your frying oil you end up using/ needing.
Each bhaji contains 1.5g of fibre and 2.4g of protein.
Storage and Reheat
These onion bhajis are at their best and crispiest when freshly cooked, but you can make them ahead if you prefer.
Prepare them as below and cook the full batch. Leave to cool, refrigerated if you’re making them more than a couple of hours in advance. Reheat on a tray (uncovered) in the oven at 180C for 6-7 minutes, until hot throughout.
Substitutions
Traditionally this recipe would use brown onions. I used a mix of brown and red in mine simply because I prefer red. Use whatever you have on hand/ would prefer to use.
Besan – again, traditionally, you need to use the chickpea flour for this. Chickpea flour is typically easy to source and available at most supermarkets, but if you’re in a pinch and need to use regular gluten free flour, use GF self-raising. As GF flour is naturally drier, you’ll need to add more water to your batter if you opt for GF too. I tried these with GF self-raising and ended up using 200ml of water while using the same values of every other ingredient listed below.
Onion Bhajis Recipe
Finely sliced onion smothered in a simple, fragrantly spiced batter and fried to crispy perfection, naturally vegan and gluten free.
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free and vegan.
Onion Bhajis Recipe
Ingredients
- vegetable oil for deep frying
- 2 large onions – peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 green chilli – finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried coriander leaf
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp hot curry powder optional
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 130 g 1 ½ cups +2 tbsp gram flour – – also known as chickpea flour or besan
- 135 ml ½ cup + 1tbsp water
Instructions
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Heat the oil in a wok or large heavy-based pan over a medium heat. You need at least 3 inches of oil, but do ensure the pan or wok is less than half full of oil as you don’t want it to bubble over.
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Mix together the chickpea flour, herbs and spices in a large mixing bowl.
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Add in the 135ml (½ cup + 1 tbsp) of water, a splash at a time, until you have a thick batter that. You may not need all of the water. Then add in the sliced onion.
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Mix together to coat the onion.
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Test the heat of the oil by dropping a little blob of the batter in the wok. It should sizzle and rise to the top.
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Carefully add a tablespoon of the onion bhaji mixture into the oil. I like to squeeze the mixture on the side of the bowl to compact it, then lower it in the oil to help prevent it from falling apart in the heated oil.
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Repeat, so you have 3 or 4 bhajis frying at the same time (don’t add more than this as the oil may boil over and also too much mixture will cool the oil – resulting in greasy bhajis that aren’t as crisp).
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Fry for 4 minutes until the coating is dark golden brown, and flip them half way through.
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Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
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Repeat, frying further bhajis, until the mixture is used up.
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You can keep cooked batches warm in a warm oven (approx 130/140c) whilst cooking the remaining bhajis.
Serve and enjoy!
Until tomorrow,
Sophie
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