Monday 10 November 2008

Baked Onion Bhaji Recipe


This Chefs full step-by-step baked onion bhaji picture recipe plus video tutorial.

Chef Jeenas baked onion bhajis are very special because they have the full flavour and taste of an onion bhaji but without the calories of a deep fried onion bhaji as they use less oil.

This baked onion bhaji recipe is cooked using chickpea flour, you can check out a very similar onion bhajee recipe by clicking here for buckwheat onion bhaji recipe as the taste is very different but both very delicious.

If you have not yet seen Chefs onion bhaji recipe video then scroll down to the bottom of this recipe and click on the video screen to see a FREE video food recipe guide to this recipe.




Ingredients for baked onion bhajis

1lb Onions
3oz Chickpea Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Coriander
Rapeseed oil
1 Large tsp Tomato Puree
1 Shot Glass Measure Water (a small egg cup can be used to measure)

Spices for the Pan

1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Ginger Powder
1/2 - 1 tsp Chilli Powder

Picture of spices.



How to make Chefs baked onion bhaji recipe


Heat some oil in a large wok or pan add onions.



Cook the onions for ten minutes until they soften.

Do not brown the onions you want them to soften only.



Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp chilli powder and 1/2 tsp ginger powder to the pan., stir well then turn off the heat.



Add the cooked onions to a bowl containing all of the other dry ingredients.

Mix well.



Mix together tomato puree and water.

Add to the bowl of onions and mix well.



Spoon the onion bhaji mixture onto a greased baking tray .



Place onion bhaji tray into a hot oven at 180C for 10 minutes only.


Align Centre

Drizzle the onion bhajis with some oil then place back into the oven for another 10 minutes or until golden.


For the full deep fried effect oil must be drizzled on top of the bhajis half way through.



Take a look at some freshly baked onion bhajees.



Enjoy Chef Jeenas tasty onion baked bhajis recipe.

Serve with cucumber raita, curries, roti, naan bread or rice.




For more video food recipes, please see my index page.

30 comments:

Seena said...

I had seen the videos but forgot to mention it Jeena.. it would be very helpful for your readers..
did u try any cassava recipe.?. :)

Unknown said...

what a great idea... this is something quite new to me... thanks for sharing... :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Such a scrumptious recipe! I love onions!

Cheers,

Rosa

Lisa Turner said...

One of my favorite Indian treats. I'm so glad to find a recipe for a baked version. I will be trying this.

Paula said...

Jeena! This is a lovely recipe! The color of the baked onion bhaji's is just beautiful; and I love that you used chickpea flour. I use a LOT of onions on a daily basis, and this is a great new recipe for me to try. And, what great fun it was to watch the video! I like the music you chose, too. I bet that was a lot of work to put together.

test it comm said...

These sound really good! I like that the onion is the star of this dish.

Owlwings said...

I was looking for a gram flour mix to make a 'pan' version of bhaji (I don't know if there's a proper name for that!) incorporating onion, mushroom and other vegetables.

Your 'step by step' has been the most helpful and 'authentic' I have found, especially in what spices to use.

My 'bhaji' will have a little more batter, which will be slightly more fluid, and the vegetables will be more finely chopped. The 'cake' will be larger, of course - about 6-7" - and served as a main course with raita, chatni and other 'sides'.

Your recipe has given me an excellent grounding for my 'invention' (which may well be something well-known under another name!)

I especially appreciate your technique of softening the onions/vegetables first and seasoning them separately.

Greendriver said...

could this be adapted for a crowd, maybe fill the pan and spoon out or cut in squares?

Chef Jeena said...

Hi Greendriver,

The bhajis would bnot be the same if you filled the oven tray and cut them out. You want the edges of the bhaji to taste authentic and deep fried. The shape would not keep very well.

I would make a few batches and cook 2-3 trays at a time in the oven.

You can make the onion bhaji mixture in advance, just press plastic wrap directly onto the bhaji mixture to prevent the air getting to the batter. Place in the fridge for cooking later on.

Hope this helps.

Jeena. :-)

Ralph said...

Jeena,
I love onion bhajis but I've never been able to make successful ones until now. This is great! I've never seen anyone else suggest pre-frying the onions or baking in the oven but they certainly work for me.
Thankyou thankyou.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeena, Just cooked your bhajis for party-it's great not to deep fry them. I did mini ones and omitted the oil in oven and cooked for 10 minutes-perfect. Thank you so much for posting recipe.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeena,

Photos and video so helpful.... made then tonight tasted devine.

Thanks, will try many other recipes.

Mick

Chris said...

I just tried these, they didn't work, ended up frying them to finish.

Mark Huby said...

Tried your Onion Bhaji - fantastic, it went well with Bombay Potato, Texas Briskett and Beans, all cooked outside on a lovely day here in North Yorkshire.
Followed it up with home-grown Strawberries.

JustJo said...

WOW, i wanted to know how to cook onion bhaji`s cos i love them soooo much and looked at your reciepe and copied it and they tasted amazing!! Im so glad i found it now every time i cook a home made curry i make the onion bhaji's as well, and will defo never bye them again!!! Once again thankyou for such a lovely reciepe.

Jo x

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeena,

I think you're blog is wonderful and so inspirational. I just wanted to ask, which other vegetables can you replace the onions with or add to this recipe(not including potatoes or mushrooms)!? I adore onion bhajis and this recipe looks fab so I'd like to use different vegetables to make other vegan variations!

Thanks

Unknown said...

Just tried making these a short while ago (with a few slight variations as I didn't have /everything/ to hand) and they are phenomenal!

I've left some on the side for my housemates to try, and if they all agree, I shall be cooking more for the curry evening we are having soon!

Elder said...

Got to say, thanks.
Made these last night, only had to differ in I fried the onions with ginger paste because I had no powder to add at the end.

Worked just as well. I think these will become a household favourite from now on.

Thanks, I can get my Bahji/Pakora fix in a healthier way now.

Anonymous said...

Such a great recipe , i tried this and did not work the bhaji came out burnt in the bottom and in top its not totally cooked.What could be wrong pls help . Did i put too much water or too much flour ?

maya

WHIPPETMAMA said...

Thank you for a really tasty and healthy recipe. Made these this evening for two very fussy sons who normally refuse to even look at a vegetable but they went down a treat. Only changes I made were I used gram flour as couldn't find chickpea and rather than drizzling with oil I used fry-light spray.

Kitty said...

Gram or chana dal or chickpea or Besan or garbanzo bean flour are all the same thing, just different names.

I found this recipe about a year ago, and I've been making it ever since. (In fact, this Saturday, for 50...) I also love it with shredded and sautéed carrots added to the onions.

Thank you so much, Jeena, for this unique approach!

Chef Jeena said...

Hi Maya,

Try turning you're oven down a little. Oven heats can depend from oven to oven, some are hotter than others.

Do you bake the onion bhajis on the top or middle shelf of you're oven? I would advise you to use the middle shelf.

How thick have you made the bhajis? Try making them a little thinner.

Are the bhajis stodgy? If yes you may have add a little too much flour. Try adding a little flour and a little water at a time so you can fully control the amount that binds the bhajis together.

If the onions are not cooked then this is because you did not cook the onion sin the pan for long enough, try frying the onions for a little longer next time.

I hope this helps, I would love to how you come along?

Thanks, Jeena.

Hi Kitty, thank you for comment I am glad you enjoy my onion bhajis.

For the other comments thank you all so very much for the wonderful feedback, I appreciate it very much.

Helen said...

Fab recipe! they are barely out the oven and they are devoured! Great entree for our curry nights. Thanks Jeena

Vanessa said...

These were a total hit! Everyone loved them, we ate them with spinach raita and wow they were tasty!

Anonymous said...

Can the baked onion bhaji be frozen?

Rusheda Savage's Blog said...

Making these for the second time tonight (a curry evening with friends). Not having to deep fry them appealed to me on numerous levels so I tried them last time. They went down a storm with my guests and they've been requested again.
Many thanks. Great recipe.

Tom
(A seasoned cook who knows a good recipe when he finds one!)

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jeena, these are delicious. I used two small tomatoes peeled and blended instead of the water+tomato puree and it worked very well.
Congratulations for your blog, it´s difficult to find good recipes for special diets and I´m looking forward to trying more!

Paul said...

Hi Jeena, and THANK YOU!

I'm a British guy living in the US, so of course I miss Indian (well, OK, mostly Bangladeshi/Pakistani ;-) food.

I have many outstanding curry recipes, but I could never replicate a true curry house onion bhaji with at-home deep frying- plus we don't really like to deep fry.

Your recipe is healthier than any of the other recipes I have used, and amazingly closer to the taste of good UK restaurant bhajis- is baking a restaurant trick too do you know?

The only modification I make to this is to add finely chopped coriander when I add the water and tomato puree- simply delicious!

To the poster who asked about freezing- these do not freeze perfectly, as you lost the 'bite' of the onion, but they freeze well enough- we always freeze and later enjoy any leftovers.

Anonymous said...

Great recipe. It is now added to our favourites! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of this recipe - only thing, where do you get chickpea flour from? x