Golden, light, and perfectly crispy Indian onion bhajis made from scratch! A great gluten-free and vegan snack or starter that you can easily make in just 20 minutes.
What is Bhaji?
A bhaji is an Indian crispy fritter. Different vegetables are chopped small, then tossed in a batter with fragrant spices, chili, and cilantro, then deep fried until golden brown and crispy.
The batter is light, flavourful, and usually made with gram (chickpea) flour.
There are many variations of these crunchy fritters in India, the most popular ones are: onion bhaji (kanda bhaji), vegetable pakoda, potato bhaji, and bread pakoda. In India, they’re sold by street food vendors, and are very popular at celebrations and festivals. In the UK, they’re enjoyed at Anglo-Indian restaurants as an appetizer with other Indian snacks, dips, and chutneys.
My onion bhaji recipe is vegan (no eggs!), moderately spicy, and very versatile. It’s just the way I make it for my family, and I often add other vegetables to it such as grated carrot.
How to Make Onion Bhajis Without Eggs
Many onion bhaji recipes call for eggs that work as a binder in the batter, however, my version here is totally vegan and honestly, it tastes much better (no eggy flavor!).
I use gram flour, which is ground chickpea flour. If you haven’t cooked with gram flour, you totally should! It’s quite powdery and has a pale yellow color, the flavor is earthy but don’t try and taste it before you cook with it as it tastes raw and not so good. It’s a great binder and an egg replacement, so I always use it for fritters.
Gram flour is great for savory dishes, but can be used in sweet recipes as well and is often used by vegans. The great thing about it as that it’s gluten-free, and you can find it at Indian shops or large supermarkets in the Indian foods section.
The Ingredients
- Onions – Red onion is usually used for these fritters for their sweet flavor, but I usually use any onion that I have available and often mix yellow with red.
- Gram flour – chickpea flour, often labeled as “besan flour”.
- Baking powder – to make the batter light.
- Garam Masala – make this amazing spice mix at home, I have the recipe for you. Or you can buy it online.
- Turmeric, cumin, salt, fresh cilantro leaves, and green chili (or chili powder).
The Directions
- Make the batter, mix all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl with water to create a batter with a consistency similar to heavy cream (double creamy in the UK).
- Slice the onions into thin slices and separate them just a little.
- Add the onions to the batter.
- Stir the onions with the batter so that it coats the onion slices well.
- Heat canola or vegetable/corn oil to 355°F (180C°), then using 2 spoons of your hands start dropping clusters of onions in the batter (about 3-4 at a time), and fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
- Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove the bhajis from the oil, and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Enjoy hot on their own, or serve with a yogurt mint raita.
Top Tips
- Substitute green chili with chili powder, or cayenne pepper if needed. Or omit if you don’t like spicy food.
- The gram flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour.
- You can either use ground cumin or cumin seeds, both work.
- Add thinly grated potato or carrot for extra flavor.
- Use fresh oil for the best flavor.
- Make sure that the oil temperature is right, otherwise, you might get soggy or not-so-crispy bhajis. I always use my kitchen thermometer to check the temperature when deep frying.
- This recipe is medium-spicy, when served with yogurt-cucumber-mint raita, it cools off the heat and works really nicely. The combination creates a flavor explosion!
- If you have leftovers, you can reheat them in the oven or Air Fryer at 390°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. But keep in mind, the bhajis won’t be as crispy as when they were first fried.
More Easy Indian Recipes To Try
- Mushroom bhaji – another simple and delicious Indian starter or side, and it’s not deep-fried so can be nicely served with this onion bhaji.
- Jeera rice – cumin rice, a great side to serve with Indian curries.
- Butter chicken – chicken curry cooked in a cream fragrant tomato sauce. An Indian classic, I also have an Instant Pot butter chicken recipe and a vegan cauliflower ‘chicken’ butter version for you.
- Kidney bean curry (Rajma) – a simple and delicious vegan curry.
- And for dessert, enjoy this rich mango lassi!
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Onion Bhaji
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (100g) gram flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 cups corn or sunflower oil for frying
- 2 onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- Make the batter, mix all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl with water to create a batter with a consistency similar to heavy cream (double creamy in the UK).
- Slice the onions into thin slices and separate them just a little.
- Add the onions to the batter.
- Stir the onions with the batter so that it coats the onion slices well.
- Heat canola or vegetable/corn oil to 355°F (180C°), then using 2 spoons of your hands start dropping clusters of onions in the batter (about 3-4 at a time), and fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
- Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove the bhajis from the oil, and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Enjoy hot on their own, or serve with a yogurt mint raita.
Notes
- Substitute green chili with chili powder, or cayenne pepper if needed. Or omit if you don’t like spicy food.
- The gram flour can be substituted with all-purpose flour.
- You can either use ground cumin or cumin seeds, both work.
- Add thinly grated potato or carrot for extra flavor.
- Use fresh oil for the best flavor.
- Make sure that the oil temperature is right, otherwise, you might get soggy or not-so-crispy bhajis. I always use my kitchen thermometer to check the temperature when deep frying.
- This recipe is medium-spicy, when served with yogurt-cucumber-mint raita, it cools off the heat and works really nicely. The combination creates a flavor explosion!
- If you have leftovers, you can reheat them in the oven or Air Fryer at 390°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes. But keep in mind, the bhajis won’t be as crispy as when they were first fried.
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