Onion Bhaji or Pakoda (Pakora) is a crispy and flavourful Indian appetizer or snack. Ideal to serve with your favorite Indian mains or even as a snack with different chutneys or sauces. This satisfying food is naturally vegan and gluten-free, just perfect to please a hungry crowd!
Why you will love our recipe
One thing we love about Onion Bhaji is that they are naturally vegan and gluten-free. A perfect snack to prepare for the family or friends served with chutneys or fresh sauces, or an appetizer to enjoy with your Indian curries. We particularly love serving bhaji with our Whole Roasted Cauliflower Tikka Masala.
Onion Bhaji or Pakora are super easy to make at home using ingredients that can be found in a regular or Indian supermarket.
You have probably already tasted bhaji before from a restaurant or from your local store, but believe me when I say the crispiness you get from your homemade bhaji it's just too good to not try making your own!
Our Crispy Onion Bhaji recipe is made with a delicious batter that combines gram flour, spices, curry leaves, fresh green chilis, and fresh coriander. We add super finely sliced carrots as well as the onion, which makes them absolutely delicious.
What is Onion Bhaji?
Onion bhaji, also known as onion pakora, is a popular Indian snack or appetizer made from deep-fried onion fritters. It is a delicious and crispy dish that is commonly found in Indian restaurants or street food stalls.
The main ingredient in onion bhaji is thinly sliced onions, which are mixed with a batter made from chickpea flour (besan flour) and various spices. The batter usually contains spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and salt, which add flavor and enhance the taste of the dish. Some variations of onion bhaji may also include chopped herbs like cilantro or mint.
Onion bhaji is often served as a starter or appetizer alongside chutneys or dips such as mint chutney, tamarind chutney, or yogurt raita. It can also be enjoyed as a snack on its own.
What is gram flour?
Gram flour is the main ingredient when making bhaji or pakoras. People tend to think that they are made with regular flour but they are not. Gram flour or Besan is a type of flour made from ground brown chickpeas.
To prepare your bhaji you can get chickpea flour, which is made from ground white chickpeas, but if you can find a good quality gram flour, we recommend using the right one. The taste and nutritional value will always be better!
As gram flour is made from a pulse, it's gluten-free. Many delicious Indian appetizers are made using gram flour.
Our Crispy Onion Bhaji are:
- An appetizer
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Slightly spicy
- Party food or finger food
- Perfect as a snack or side dish
- Easy to prepare
- Quick to make
How to make the best Onion Bhaji
Ingredients
Gram flour. As mentioned above, you can use chickpea flour as well, but the traditional recipe calls for gram flour.
Onion and carrot. Obviously, onions are used for our onion bhaji, but we love adding some finely sliced carrots too for extra color, texture, and flavor.
Spice mix. To flavor your batter, you need a good spice mix. For our batter, we use garam masala, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric powder, and salt. Other great options are chili powder, coriander, and cumin seeds, onion powder, and garlic powder.
Curry leaves. You can use fresh or dried curry leaves. This is an optional ingredient that may be difficult to find, but if you have easy access to it, we strongly recommend using it as it gives your Bhaji a delicious flavor. If you buy fresh curry leaves, keep the rest in the fridge and they will last for a good few days, or freeze them to keep them for longer.
Fresh coriander. We use fresh coriander leaves in the batter as it gives your pakoras a great flavor and fresh touch.
Fresh green chilies. If you love spicy food, don't leave this ingredient out. Adding some finely chopped green chilis makes a huge difference, giving your bhaji that spicy touch you are going for.
Lemon. Last, we like adding a squeeze of lemon into our batter.
Cornflour and bicarbonate of soda. Adding these ingredients is totally optional as we have made bhaji before without the addition of them and they come out good. Using cornflour and bicarbonate soda gets the right texture for your bhaji and they come out just perfect.
Step by Step method
Bhaji Batter
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix gram flour, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, turmeric, salt, curry leaves, cornflour and bicarbonate soda using a large bowl.
- Add the fresh coriander, finely chopped, and a squeeze of lemon.
- Gradually pour the water into the mixture. Just add little water at a time while you keep whisking the mixture to ensure no lumps are formed.
- Combine until all ingredients are incorporated and form a homogeneous batter. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more water. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more gram flour. You need a thick batter.
Add the onion and carrot
- Add your veggies. Using a sharp knife, finely slice the onion and carrot. You can chop the green chillis into small pieces. You can use a mandoline slicer for this part to save some time and energy. Add sliced onion and carrot and finely chopped green chili.
- Mix the fresh ingredients into the batter until everything is well-coated and ready to shape your bhaji.
Cook
- Heat some vegetable oil in a non-stick pan or deep-fat fryer to medium temperature. You will need enough oil to deep-fry the bhaji. Using a spoon, form the bhajis making sure they have a similar size so they cook evenly. Drop them into the hot oil. You can check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a little mixture and checking if it starts to bubble. Make small batches to ensure they don't stick to each other.
- Cook until golden brown, turning them halfway to make sure they cook evenly on both sides. When cooked, take them out of the pan, and leave them on kitchen paper for a couple of minutes to remove the excess oil.
Tips to prepare the perfect Crispy Onion Bhaji
This appetizer is so simple to make and delicious that once you know how to make them properly, you will probably be cooking them quite often.
- When making Bhaji, make sure your batter is flavored enough. Spices, salt, and fresh ingredients such as coriander and green chilis are a perfect combination to give a delicious flavor to your batter.
- Use gram or chickpea flour. This flour is lighter, healthier, and turns out crispier than regular flour.
- Always make sure the oil is hot enough before dropping your bhajis. You can always check by dipping a bit of the mixture.
- When you take the Bhaji out of the oil, leave them on a paper kitchen towel for a couple of minutes to get any excess oil and get them crispier.
- Serve hot. The best Onion Bhaji are the ones served hot. Once they get cold, they lose their crispiness and are not that enjoyable. You can always have the batter ready and leave the cooking process for the very last minute.
- Get the mixture so it drops off the spoon easily. This will ensure a crunchy and light bhaji.
- If the veggies are not sticking together, add a bit more gram flour. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit more water.
- Add a pinch of salt when still hot, right before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Our crispy Indian fritters are best served with a fresh sauce such as yogurt and mint dipping sauce or a sweet chutney such as mango chutney. We love making our own mint sauce by mixing some plain soy yogurt with fresh finely chopped mint, freshly squeezed lemon, and a pinch of salt. You can add some maple syrup to make it sweeter.
Onion Bhaji can be served as an appetizer, snack, or as a delicious side. They are often served with Chai tea around India, which in our opinion, it was a delicious combination.
Bhajis are a great side dish to serve with your favorite Indian Curries or a spicy Gobi Manchurian.
Make sure to serve something refreshing with these, such as a Mango Juice!
Store and Reheat
If you have some bhaji left over, you can keep them in the fridge for later, or freeze them. Always use an airtight container.
The best way to reheat your onion bhaji to get them crunchy again is by using an air-fryer. Our Ninja air fryer has a reheat option which works amazingly when heating up fried food such as bhaji or spring rolls. Another option to get that crispiness back is to use the oven. Alternatively, you can use the microwave but they won't get as crispy.
FAQ
Can I make Onin Pakodas using all-purpose flour?
Traditionally, onion bhaji is made using chickpea flour (besan), which gives it a distinct flavor and texture. However, if you don't have chickpea flour on hand, you can use all-purpose flour as a substitute, although the taste and texture may be slightly different. Adjust the water to get a perfect consistency, as you may need more or less depending on the type of flour you are using (plain flour, whole wheat flour, rice flour, etc). Here is a recipe by Lowly Food, using plain flour.
How many crispy bhajis does this recipe make?
It will always depend on how big or small your shape your bhaji, but our recipe makes about 15 medium-sized bhajis.
Can I bake onion bhaji?
Yes, you can bake onion bhajis instead of deep-frying them if you prefer a healthier alternative. Baking the bhajis will result in a lighter and less crispy texture compared to deep-frying, but they can still be delicious. Place the mixture on an oven tray on some parchment paper and bake for about 15-20 minutes flipping them halfway through to ensure that they cook evenly.
What type of oil should I use to deep-fry the bhaji?
For this recipe, we like using neutral-oil, to not add a strong flavor to the bhaji. Olive oil can be a bit overpowering when deep-frying the bhaji so we prefer using sunflower or rapeseed oil.
Crispy Onion Bhaji
Ingredients
- 3 medium size onion around 400 g
- 1 carrot
- 1-2 green chilis
- 130 g gram flour
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder or seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder or seeds
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 small curry leaves sliced
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
- A handful fresh coriander
- Squeeze of lemon
- 130 ml water
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Finely slice the onion and carrot, and finely chop the green chili. Reserve.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix gram flour, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, turmeric, salt, curry leaves, cornflour, and bicarbonate soda using a large bowl.
- Add the fresh coriander, finely chopped, and a squeeze of lemon.
- Gradually pour the water into the mixture.
- Combine until all ingredients are incorporated and form a homogeneous batter. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more water. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more gram flour. You need a thick batter.
- Add into the mixture the sliced onion and carrot and green chili.
- Mix the fresh ingredients into the batter until everything is well coated and ready to shape your bhaji.
- Heat some vegetable oil in a non-stick pan to medium temperature.
- Using a spoon, form the bhajis making sure they have a similar size so they cook evenly.
- Drop them into the pan once the oil is hot. You may need to make a few small batches if you are not using a large pan to ensure they don't stick.
- Cook until golden, turning them halfway to make sure they cook evenly on both sides.
- When cooked, take them out of the pan, and leave them on kitchen paper for a couple of minutes to remove the excess oil.
- Add a pinch of salt while still warm and serve.
Notes
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Nutrition
| If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations! |
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