recipes
bhajji skewers, four ways
Happy Deepavali/Diwali to all our homies celebrating! We went all out with a bhajji skewer, taking inspiration from bhajjis across South Asia.
Bhajji is honestly the go-to tea-time snack and it can be made with basically anything. We enjoyed with friends with some barfi and masala chai.
onion bhajji
south indian-inspired
Everyone loves a onion bhajji, do we need to say anything more! Just find out how to make it and enjoy it with some masala chai.
potato bhajji
amma-inspired
The bhajji we’ve ever known for the longest time is the potato bhajji – because that’s what amma makes as an easy, go-to weekend tea time snack. It’s so nice to have piping hot bhajis just fresh out of the pan.
bread bhajji
south indian-inspired
Apparently, this is a South Indian street food snack – it’s like french toast but Indian version. We only learnt about this when amma said, it’s the easiest bhajji to make. You can spice this up with a potato or a cheese filling, whatever flows.
chilli bhajji
ceylon-inspired
In any Tamil store you’d probably find a chilli bhajji made with pointed peppers or jalapeños. The heat you feel after biting into one just hits differently, and then take a sip of tea, mmm!
onion bhajji
the stuff
the main:
2 large onions
coriander
the batter:
gram flour
chilli powder
cumin powder
garam masala
turmeric
salt
3-4 tbsp water
the method
- Slice onions thinly.
- Chop the coriander.
- In a bowl mix the gram flour with all the spices.
- Mix the onions and coriander in and let it sit for an hour.
- The juices from the onion should create a batter but if not, add a bit of water until there’s a thick paste holding everything together.
- Heat oil in a frying pan on medium flame.
- Scoop a bit of the mixture, tap it flat and gently drop into the oil.
- Wait till it browns.
- Have it with a spicy siracha sauce or coriander-mint chutney!
potato, bread and chilli bhajji
the stuff
the main:
potatoes, sliced
bread, sliced
jalapeño or sweet pointed peppers
the batter:
2 cups gram flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 tbsp plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
salt to taste
chilli powder to taste
cumin powder or crushed cumin
ginger-garlic paste
1-1/2 cup water
the method
- Mix the dry ingredients – gram flour, rice flour, plain flour, salt and all the spices.
- Add water slowly until you get a thick batter – a bit like a pancake mix.
- Heat oil in a frying pan – high enough so the bits don’t stick to the pan.
- Keep the oil on medium flame to ensure they brown evenly.
- Now you just dip the vegetables or bread in the batter and drop into the oil (okay don’t drop or it’ll splatter and it’s a mess).
- Turn them around in the oil so every bit becomes real nice and brown and crunchy.
- Have it with a yoghurt sauce and a masala chai on the side!