Blooming Onion Bhajis

Wotchers!

These are a follow-up to the Crispy Onion Bhaji recipe the other week, and while the coating remains the same (minus the fresh ginger), the difference comes in the preparation of the onions as well as the onions themselves. Luckily, you have some of my fantastic and incredibly popular MS Paint diagrams to help!

The onions need to be small: I’d say small-ish tomato size. You could go larger, up to, say, small apple-sized, but then the cooking time needs to be increased accordingly.

Blooming Onion Bhajis

300g of small, round onions
1 tsp salt

75g besan/gram flour
50g rice flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (red & mild) – or a spicier chilli powder if liked
1 tbs dried coriander leaves (or if you prefer to use fresh, use 2tbs and add them to the onion mixture rather than the dried ingredients)
1 tsp garam masala or Berbere spice mix

• Peel the brown, papery skin from the onions.
• Cut the top off the onions and leave the root intact.

• Turn the onion upside-down, with the root uppermost.

• Using a thin, sharp knife, make four cuts, slicing from near the root, downwards.

• Depending on the size of the onion, make an additional two or three cuts in each quarter, again being careful not to cut too close to the root.

• Turn the onions the right way up and sprinkle each with a little salt (from the 1tsp). Just as in the previous recipe, you need the salt to draw out the juice from the onions, only this time it is in order to be able to spread the ‘petals’ apart. Don’t try and spread them apart to begin with, as they will be crisp and might break off from the root.
• Set the onions aside for 30 minutes to allow the salt to work its magic. Check progress after 15 minutes and if they still seem a little closely-bound, sprinkle a little more salt and wait another 15 minutes.
• When the onions have softened enough, ease the ‘petals’ apart so that they can be dusted thoroughly in the coating mixture.
• Mix the flours, bicarb and spices well, then sift, preferably twice, to ensure there are no lumps.
• Stir in the dried coriander.
• I recommend you coat the onions one at a time.
• Sprinkle a little of the coating mixture in the bottom of a bowl and set an onion, root downwards, onto it.
• Spread the onion ‘petals’ apart gently with one hand whilst sprinkling over the coating with the other. The coating distributes more easily when sprinkled from above. Once some of the coating has adhered, the petals will stay ‘open’ of their own accord.
• When all the onions have been coated, sprinkle any remaining mixture over the top.
• Heat your oil to 180°C.
• Lower the onions into the hot oil one at a time with a spoon.
• Cook for approximately 2 minutes, then flip them over and cook for another 2 or until browned to your liking. If your onions are larger, they will need additional cooking time. Don’t try and cook them all at once, batches of 4 recommended.
• Remove the cooked blooming bhajis from the oil and allow to drain in a sieve resting on a few sheets of kitchen roll.
• Serve warm as is, or with dip.