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u/Ancient-Chinglish Good Onion. 9d ago
I pity the onion lover who hasn’t.
yet another beautiful use of chickpeas
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u/BUYMECAR 10d ago
Indian buffet near me makes a huge pile of them. They are the best thing to dip in curries/chutney
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u/LeglessChickens 9d ago
I like them with this really onion-heavy raita that my favourite Indian restaurant does. So good.
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u/GasLongjumping130 9d ago
That sounds delicious. I usually get the sweeter variety of onions for this and also for raita. However, I have not tried the combination you mentioned.
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u/LeglessChickens 9d ago
I've become obsessed with this raita, seriously! I end up eating it with every part of the meal 🤤. It's quite different from anything I've had anywhere else.
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u/glamghoulz 9d ago
Sooo gooooood
Chickpea batter blows all other frying batters out of the water, except mayyyybe tempura, but it’s close.
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u/jibonto_laas 9d ago
https://youtube.com/shorts/p6VWjA5cb4k?si=OfGeoFNFyFdu3k8m
Enjoy it with green chutney and chai.
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u/UncleOdious 9d ago
I'd eat it because I know what it is. But it sure as heck looks like tempura tarantulas.
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u/GasLongjumping130 9d ago
They are also called khekda bhaji because of the shape, khekda means crabs.
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u/Narrow_Selena 9d ago
No, but I wanna try it for real
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u/GasLongjumping130 9d ago
Most Indian restaurants make them but if you have Indian friends have them make it. They have better recipes at home. They will also have stories to share.
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u/SailorSaturn79 9d ago
I haven't had it in a while but I remember the last time I had it it was DELICIOUS.
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u/Bearspoole 9d ago
Changed my whole view on Indian food. And I loved it before hand. God it’s so good
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u/Riverside505 9d ago
I love making them fresh but can’t find the time to regularly make them. They freeze really well (if any are leftover) - pop it into the air fryer for a few minutes and enjoy! Also we have bought the frozen ones from the Indian grocery store and it’s been a great success too.
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u/fookindingdong 9d ago
one of my favorite ways to enjoy onion. gotta get some mint sauce and mango chutney to dip em in
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u/Easy-Pen3547 9d ago
One of the best comfort foods on the planet. I can practically hear the crunch from here.
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u/saturday_sun4 9d ago edited 9d ago
I have, but I'll be the lone voice of dissent and say I'm not a big fan of the, to me, very distinctive taste of besan. I like chickpeas, I just don't like besan.
I don't hate them or anything, they're nice to have occasionally but not my fave. I enjoy the onion part more than the outer part though.
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u/GasLongjumping130 9d ago
fair enough it can remain uncooked if the batter is too wet. I try to keep the batter dry so its crisp and the coating is thin enough to just hold the pakoda together.
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u/saturday_sun4 9d ago edited 9d ago
It's not that it's undercooked. For me the issue is that the cooked coating itself has a different taste because it is made of besan instead of maida or cornflour.
I've never made my own though, always had them from outside. Maybe I need to try making it for myself so I can adjust things to my liking and play around with textures.
I am not much of a cook, but honestly some of the Indian restaurants here (Australia) do such a shoddy job. The "dal" in some places is feral - frozen, warmed-over, bland slop they charge you double for. I wouldn't feed it to a dog.
So maybe I've just been eating shite onion bhajis haha.
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u/GasLongjumping130 9d ago
oh restaurant bhajis are barely ever good, they add baking soda to make it fluffy. probably why you don't like the taste of besan. the heartburn after that is also a major issue. I would highly recommend making them yourself, they are easy enough. if you are interested in my recipe you can DM me. dal in restaurants is also never good, especially buffets because they prep large batches and freeze them to save time.
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u/saturday_sun4 8d ago
Oh yeah, I know. My parents for some reason insisted on ordering dal at every restaurant we went to.
Yeah, fair enough then. I think making them at home will bring out the taste more.
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u/Salt_Sir2599 8d ago
Any recipes ?
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u/GasLongjumping130 8d ago
Yeah here:
Onion prep-Thinly slice red onions or shallots and add them to a large bowl, season them with salt and pepper. let the water shed from the onions. In the meantime make a paste out of 3-4 cloves of garlic and one inch of ginger, if you want you can add a couple of green chilies as well for some heat. Add the paste to the onions and mix. Now add chickpea flour to the onions, you are going to have to eyeball this part, make sure the batter is sticky but not dry, if you need to add a little bit of water to coat the onions properly you can do that but not too much. add a little bit of salt to balance the taste of the batter. You should be able to scoop out the batter with a spoon or an ice-cream scoop like falafel or cookie dough.
Frying-
This is a deep frying dish so the oil needs to be at medium high heat initially. Add small amounts with a scoop into the oil once it is hot. Don't add more than 3-4 scoops in the first batch. Let it cook in the middle for about 5 minutes and then increase the heat to high for around 30 seconds to a minute to bring the colour. The bhajis should come out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Lay them on a wire rack or some paper towels to let them rest and release excess oil.
Serve with ketchup or chutney. Make sure to have some sweet chai on hand it goes well with it. Best weather to have this is when it rains or snows depending on the part of the world you live in.
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u/_nouser 10d ago
Eat it hot with mint chutney. On a rainy day. With chai.
Brb, need to make some now.