Ingredients
BATTER
450 g chickpea flour
1.2 ml baking powder
2.5 ml tartaric acid
5 ml garlic powder
1 ml onion powder
2.5 ml ground ginger powder
2.5 ml ground turmeric
2.5 ml chilli powder
125 - 150 ml chilli bite mix (optional, gives more spice and colour)
7.5 ml fine salt
30 ml sunflower oil
625 ml warm water
2 L sunflower oil, for deep frying
BHAJIAS
8 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
4 onions, peeled in sliced in rings
GREEN CHUTNEY
200 g cucumber, roughly chopped
50 g fresh coriander (leaves and stalks)
4 green chillies, roughly chopped (remove seeds if you want it to be less spicy)
2 lemons, the juice of the lemons
Salt (10ml or to to taste)
RED CHUTNEY
200 g jam tomatoes, roughly chopped
140 g peeled carrots, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
30 ml white sugar
Instructions
METHOD BHAJIAS AND BATTER
- Peel the potatoes. Slice the potatoes. Bring water to a boil in a pot with some salt. Use a cookie cutter and cut the potatoes round. Cook the potatoes in the pot with water. Cook until the potato rounds are done, but NOT too soft.
- Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl with ice water to stop the cooking and set aside.
- Slice the onions into thick rings (about 1 cm). Loosen the onion slices to make individual rings.
- Separate the lettuce and cut smaller.
- To make the batter: Mix the dry ingredients together, add the oil and mix through.
- Little by little add the warm water to the mixture to form a thin batter. It must be just thin enough to coat the potato slices.
- Rest the batter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a large, deep pan or pot.
- Dry handfuls of potato slices on a clean tea towel. Ensure each slice is free from as much water as possible.
- Coat each slice with the batter and carefully slide into the hot oil.
- Fry until golden and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.
- Do the same with the onion and lettuce for a variety.
- Fry a little at a time in small batches.
- Drain the bhajias on a plate lined with kitchen towel.
METHOD FOR TOMATO CHUTNEY
- Blend all the ingredients until pureed. To make it smooth, pass it through a sieve.
- Adjust seasoning, sugar, and salt.
- Place in a squeezy bottle and place in the fridge.
METHOD FOR GREEN CHUTNEY
- Blend all the ingredients until coarsely pureed. It should still be a bit on the chunky side. Adjust seasoning.
- Place in the fridge until service.
TO SERVE
- Plate the green chutney on the plate.
- Dot the red chutney around it.
- Serve the bhajias in quantities you like, but suggested is to start with the onion, followed by potato, then more onion, one more potato and finish with another onion ring.
- Dress with microgreens.