{"id":112,"date":"2021-04-22T04:41:27","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T04:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/?p=112"},"modified":"2021-04-22T09:25:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T09:25:44","slug":"savour-indias-famous-bhajia-bhajji-or-pakora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/22\/savour-indias-famous-bhajia-bhajji-or-pakora\/","title":{"rendered":"Savour India\u2019s famous Bhajia\/Bhajji or Pakora"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Street Foods of the World \u2013 Bhajia\/ Bhajji\/ Pakora \u2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Street foods are ready to eat, small pieces of food that originate from a region or a street or even a mere common place on a street. Vendors sell them or hawkers in uniquely presented vans, booths or trucks. The Taste Magicians endeavor to bring to you in a series of blogs, from our travels around the world, from Pompeii to the Grand bazaar of Istanbul, to Cairo, to the streets of Spain and as far as Lima and New York City. We even take our journey to Japan, Jakarta, Singapore to China and India.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On my visit to India, I found myself drawn to the famous Bhajia\/Bhajji or Pakora. Call it what you may, but these are definitely the most popular street foods that have found their way into every Indian restaurant in the west. But in India, these are freshly cooked at every nook and corner of the country. Whether it be the \u201ctea kadai\u201d in the South or the \u201cchai walla\u201d in the North, you will see these cooking around the clock. But evening is probably the best time to cherish these delicacies and with a cup of \u201ccutting chai\u201d as it\u2019s so famously called in Mumbai.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I\u2019m sharing here the recipe for Gujarat Na Bhajia \u2013 the Gujarati origin, made famous in West Kenya, by migrant Indians. There is also the Loyola Vengayam (onion) Pakora. In England an Onion Bhaji will merely be a big chunk of Gram Flour with some onions in it, made famous by the Bangladeshi Restaurateurs. But on the south of India these pakoras are loads of onions, softened with salt and gram flour dusted on it to absorb the moisture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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So, let\u2019s get down to making the famous Indian Bhajji.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ingredients:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Onion Pakora:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. 4 \u2013 Onions, medium size, sliced lengthwise<\/li>\n
  2. 2 Tbsp Mint leaves chopped<\/li>\n
  3. 2 Tbsp Coriander leaves chopped<\/li>\n
  4. 2 Tbsp Curry Leaves chopped<\/li>\n
  5. 1 Tsp Fennel<\/li>\n
  6. 1 Tsp Cumin<\/li>\n
  7. 1 Tsp Ajwain (Carom Seeds)<\/li>\n
  8. 2 Green Chillies finely chopped<\/li>\n
  9. 1 Tbsp Ginger finely chopped<\/li>\n
  10. \u00bd Tsp Salt<\/li>\n
  11. \u00bd Cup Gram Flour<\/li>\n
  12. 2 Tbsp Rice Flour<\/li>\n
  13. 1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder<\/li>\n
  14. 1 Tsp Cumin Powder<\/li>\n
  15. \u00bd Tsp Turmeric Ground<\/li>\n
  16. \u00bc Tsp Asafoetida (Hing)<\/li>\n
  17. \u00bc Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda<\/li>\n
  18. Oil for Deep-frying.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gujarat Na Bhajiya:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    1. 3 Potatoes \u2013 Large Maris Piper<\/li>\n
    2. \u00bd Tsp Salt<\/li>\n
    3. 1 Tbsp Ginger finely chopped<\/li>\n
    4. 1 Tbsp Garlic finely chopped<\/li>\n
    5. 1 Tbsp Green Chilli finely Chopped<\/li>\n
    6. 1 Tbsp Coriander fine chopped<\/li>\n
    7. \u00bd Tsp Turmeric Ground<\/li>\n
    8. \u00bd Tsp Red Chilli Powder<\/li>\n
    9. \u00bd Tsp Garam Masala Powder<\/li>\n
    10. \u00bc Tsp Chaat Masala<\/li>\n
    11. 5 Tbsp Gram Flour<\/li>\n
    12. 1 Tbsp Rice Flour<\/li>\n
    13. 1 Tbsp Corn Flour<\/li>\n
    14. \u00bd Tsp Lemon Juice<\/li>\n
    15. \u00bc Tsp Asafoetida<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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      Chutney:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      1. 1\/2 Cup Cucumber grated<\/li>\n
      2. 1 Cup Tomato finely chopped or grated<\/li>\n
      3. 2 Tbsp Carrot finely grated<\/li>\n
      4. 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed and chopped<\/li>\n
      5. 2 Tbsp Coriander finely chopped<\/li>\n
      6. 4 Green Chillies finely chopped<\/li>\n
      7. 2 Tbsp Lemon juice<\/li>\n
      8. 1 Tbsp Sugar<\/li>\n
      9. \u00bd Tbsp tamarind pulp<\/li>\n
      10. 2 Tsp Salt<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

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        Method:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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        Onion Pakora :<\/strong>\"\"<\/p>\n

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        1. This is a recipe from Arun\u2019s Tea Kadai (Tea shop) opposite Loyola College in Chennai where I was pursuing my Degree in the 90\u2019s. He would make this just as our break was about to begin. That coupled with a glass of tea from the \u2018master\u2019 (as the chef was called), was divine. We have tweaked it; after all we are the magicians of taste!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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          Onion Pakora Prep:<\/p>\n

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          1. To the onions add all the ingredients up to the salt, rest for about 30 minutes. This is where the salt draws out the water from the onions.<\/li>\n
          2. Pre heat the oil to 165-175\u00b0C<\/strong><\/li>\n
          3. Now add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well. The gram flour should just about coat the onions and hold it together.<\/li>\n
          4. Take lemon sized balls of the onion mix and flatten and carefully drop into the hot oil. Fry till golden brown and remove on to kitchen paper towel to absorb excessive oil.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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            Gujarat Na Bhajiya:\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

            This is a recipe preserved and mastered by Bhanu while he was in Vadodara, honing his Chef skills. It\u2019s a traditional Gujarati recipe made famous by Maru\u2019s in West Kenya. We have here a traditional version.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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            Gujarat Na Bhajiya Prep:<\/p>\n

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            1. Wash and peel Potatoes, then using a mandolin slice them very thin (about 2mm)<\/li>\n
            2. To the sliced potato add all the ingredients up to the chaat masala. Rest for about 30 minutes.<\/li>\n
            3. Pre heat the oil to 165-175\u00b0C<\/strong><\/li>\n
            4. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.<\/li>\n
            5. Deep fry until golden brown and rest on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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              Chutney Prep:<\/p>\n

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              1. Blend together all of the ingredients for the chutney, until coarsely pur\u00e9ed. Alternatively place in a chopper and use the pulse to grind coarse, to make it rustic you could just grate or chop all the ingredients and mix together. Keep chilled in a refrigerator.<\/li>\n
              2. Don\u2019t forget there is nothing like a glass of \u2018chai\u2019 made with tea leaves, ginger, cardamom and mint, and whole milk.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Street Foods of the World \u2013 Bhajia\/ Bhajji\/ Pakora \u2026. Street foods are ready to eat, small pieces of food that originate from a region or a street or even a mere common place on a street. Vendors sell them or hawkers in uniquely presented vans, booths or trucks. The Taste Magicians endeavor to bring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asian-expedition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetastemagician.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}