Bhajia
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Serves: 4
Vegetable Tempura
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch of asafoetida
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- Water or soda water as needed
- Canola or vegetable oil for frying
- Assorted vegetables (like 1 small potato, 1 small red onion, 1 very small zucchini, cut into slices, 4 to 5 cauliflower florets, 5 to 6 slices of butternut squash, 2 green chilies, ½ green pepper, 3 to 4 green beans, cut into bite size pieces or any vegetable you like)
Directions
- Put chickpea flour, spices and salt in to a medium size mixing bowl. Make a pancake like batter (thicker than tempura batter) with water or soda. Let it stand for 20 to 30 minutes.
- In a frying pan, heat oil for frying up to 350 degrees. Dip vegetables one by one into batter, covering the entire surface. Let the excess batter drip, drop it in hot oil and fry it on one side until light golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn it over and fry the other side until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. You can fry 6 to 7 pieces of vegetables at a time depending on the size of frying pan. Serve hot with cilantro chutney or ketchup.
Bharela Maracha na Bhajia
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Stuffed pepper fritters
Ingredients
- 15 Banana peppers or hatch chilies or 20 sweet peppers
Batter:
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch of asafetida
- Water or soda water as needed
Filling:
- 2 russet potatoes, boiled and mashed
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno chili, finely minced
- 1 inch piece of ginger, finely minced
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of ground coriander and cumin)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoons sugar or to taste
- 2 teaspoons aam-chur (dried mango powder) or juice of ½ a lemon
- ½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
- ¼ cup loosely packed mint leaves
Canola or Vegetable oil for frying
Directions
- Make batter: Put chick pea flour, spices and salt in to a medium size mixing bowl. Make a pancake like batter (thicker than tempura batter) with water or soda. Let it stand for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Make filling: In a wok or a frying pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium high heat until simmering, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Next add mustard seeds and let them sizzle. Add shallot, green chili, ginger and garlic. Sauté the mixture until shallot is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add all dry spices and sauté for 30 seconds. Add mashed potatoes, season with salt, sugar and mango powder or lemon juice. Stir everything to combine spices with mashed potatoes. Let the mixture cook on low heat for 2 minutes. Add peas, cilantro and mint. Stir to combine and let the filling cook for 2 more minute. Adjust the seasoning. Let the filling cool for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Blanch peppers in boiling salted water for 30 seconds and let it cool down until cool to touch. Remove stems, ribs and seeds from peppers (hollow out peppers).
- Stuff the peppers with a small spoon or by hand. Push the filling inside with back of a wooden spoon.
- In a frying pan, heat oil for frying until hot enough to fry. Dip a pepper into batter, covering the entire surface. Let the excess batter drip, drop it in hot oil and fry it on one side until light golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn it over and fry the other side until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. You can fry 3 to 4 peppers at a time depending on the size of frying pan. Serve warm with cilantro chutney, tamarind and date chutney or ketchup as a side dish. To serve as an appetizer, cut large peppers in half before serving.