Add these two recipes to your Diwali spread this year. Onion Bhaji are deep-fried snacks similar to veggie fritters or pakoras. Crunchy, salty, rich, and spiced, their chickpea flour batter is spiked with ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and chili powder. Be sure to have a bright dipping sauce, like this mint and cilantro chutney.
Chaat on the other hand is a very popular street food that’s tangy and sweet and spicy. These snacks always include “something crunchy, something starchy, fresh toppings, and chutneys,” says Sankaran. This recipe starts with deep-fried pooris, a type of crunchy cracker. Next come the boiled potatoes, chaat masala-infused yogurt, red onion, cilantro, sev (small bits of crunchy chickpea-flour noodles), pomegranate seeds, tamarind and date chutney, and cilantro and mint chutney.
Print
Onion Bhaji
Description
Crunchy, salty, and deliciously deep-fried.
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions, cut in half and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 finely chopped green chili
- 3/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 3/4 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ¾ cup besan or chickpea flour
- 4–5 tbsp water as needed, to bring the batter together
Instructions
- Place the sliced onions in a medium-sized bowl. Add in the grated ginger and finely chopped green chili along with the cumin powder, Kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric, and salt. Use a fork to stir and evenly coat the onions with the spices.
- Next, add the baking soda, cornstarch, and chickpea flour. Stir to coat the onions and then slowly add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until a thick batter begins to form. Pour in only as much water as needed to bring the batter together.
- Heat at least 3 inches of oil to about 350 degrees. Once the oil is hot enough, take a spoonful of the onions and place gently in the oil. You can put 3-4 in at a time as long as there is space between each bhaji. (The temperature of the oil is important to regulate. If the oil is too hot, the center won’t cook while the outside burns. Also, when you place more than one bhaji in the oil the temperature reduces, so you may have to turn up the heat temporarily to raise it; otherwise, it draws in too much oil and you will end up with oily bhaji.)
- Fry each batch of bhaji for a few minutes on each side, remove, and place on a wire rack to drain. Serve immediately with cilantro-mint chutney.
Dahi Papdi Chaat
Description
A sweet, tangy, and spicy street food.
Ingredients
- 1 boiled potato, peeled and coarsely crushed
- ½ small red onion, finely chopped
- Small handful cilantro, finely chopped
- Pomegranate seeds
- 1 cup plain full-fat yogurt
- Chaat masala to taste
- 25 papdis
- Tamarind or tamarind date chutney
- Cilantro-mint chutney
- Fine sev
Instructions
- Prep all the ingredients: boil the potatoes, chop the onion and cilantro, prepare the pomegranate seeds, and stir together the yogurt and chaat masala.
- Assemble the chaat by placing the papdis on a large plate. Place a little of the crushed potatoes on top. Next, spoon on the yogurt and then drizzle on the tamarind and cilantro-mint chutneys. Then top this by sprinkling on the sev, followed by the finely chopped red onion and cilantro. Finally top with the pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.
Notes
The papdi, chaat masala, tamarind chutney, cilantro-mint chutney, and sev can all be purchased at your local Indian grocery store. The cilantro-mint chutney recipe for the onion bhaji can be used here if you want a homemade version. The chaat masala I used is from Spicewalla.
Recipes and Styling by Veda Sankaran
Photography by Dave Bryce
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine‘s print edition.
