Kanda Bhajjiya Recipe

Kanda Bhajiya or Bhaji is a fried appetizer, a snack made of crispy fried onions in hot oil. Onion, gram flour and a few traditional spices are used to make these crunchy and crispy fitters. These were crisp even a few hours after frying. Serve them as teatime snacks with ginger tea, tomato ketchup or green chutney.

These Indian Onion bhaji are also called Khekada bhaji because they look like crabs. Popular street food in Maharashtra is easy, quick, delicious, and crunchy to make.

Monsoons are when I crave these crisp and easy onion fritters. But then, anytime can be pakode time. These bhajis taste great with tea and coffee; how about pairing them with dal rice? Tea time and snack time, of course, are popular options. These bhajiyas are different from the Crispiest Baked Onions Rings Recipe without Flour. We do not use eggs in Kanda Pakode.

How about some shallow-fried kappa like Ghosali chi Kappa or Ridge Gourd Slices, Kelya che Kappa?

Ingredients

These are your ingredients; for quantities please check the recipe card.

• Onion: Onions sliced and separated
• Green chillies: Chopped fine
• Coriander leaves: Chopped fine
• Turmeric: A little
• Red chilli powder: I have used Kashmiri Chili powder
• Ajwain: Also called caraway seeds, these are optional but recommended
• Coriander seeds: Try adding a few freshly pounded coriander seeds. It is again optional but the flavour is amazing
• Hing: A pinch of asafoetida
• Besan: Bengal gram flour, gluten-free flour that gives a delicious taste to the pakoda
• Rice flour: Fine rice flour makes the pakoda crisp
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Instructions

• Slice the onions thin, add the chopped chillies, coriander leaves and spices.
• Mix well, knead in the onions and spices. Set aside for about ½ an hour.
• Heat oil. Now stir in a tablespoon or two of the gram flour and rice flour in the onion mixture.
• Add 2-3 teaspoons of hot oil to the flour; it will sizzle. Mix using a spoon.
• Use minimum gram flour to form a dough. At this point, if the dough is dry, it is fine. It will get wet as you start frying.
• In the hot oil, lower the flame and add small balls of the dough to the hot oil.
• Fry on medium heat until golden brown. Flip over and fry on the other side.
• Once done, drain on a tissue and serve hot with a dip/ sauce of your choice.

Remember not to crowd the wok. I like to use my fingers to sprinkle the batter on the oil. Please be careful; the oil is hot, and you need to do this gently.

Substitutions

• I have used caraway seeds here, but you can also use lightly pounded coriander seeds.

Variations

• Your vegetable choices for the pakoda are
  • onion, potato, brinjal or eggplant, raw banana or plantain, paneer, cauliflower, Mirchi or chilli pepper, tomatoes, capsicum, snake gourd, ridge gourd or turai and breadfruit.
  • Try frying bread too!
  • Leafy vegetables like palak or spinach, ajwain are fried too.
• You can also deep fry groundnuts, chicken, fish and eggs.

Equipment

• Bowl
• Knife and board
• Wok/ kadhai
• Plate
• Slotted spoon
• Tissue paper

Storage

• These Bhajiya stay good and crisp for about 3-4 hours depending on humidity at your location. However, they taste best hot out of the pan.

Pro Tips

• To make crispy Kanda Pakoda the oil needs to be hot—not smoking hot but hot enough.
• To test, drop a small blob of batter, in the hot oil, it should rise slowly to the surface. If it rises immediately, the oil is too hot- cool the oil. The reason your vegetable will not cook well and the end product will be soggy.
• If the batter stays at the bottom, go on and wait for some more time and heat.
• Now, adding baking powder or soda is not recommended for these crunchy fritters. When you are mixing the batter, add a few teaspoons of hot oil to the batter.
• One tip is to add a small, lemon-sized ball of cooked toor dal. In Marathi, it is called Varan cha gola this is my husband’s grandmother's tip.
• Remember to fry in small batches so that the oil remains hot. The result is crispy pakodas.
• If you need to add more oil to your pan remove the current batch. Add the oil and heat it before you add the Bhaji.

FAQ

• What are Pakodas? How does one make Pakoras?

  

  To make pakoda, you make a thick batter, generally from chickpea flour or besan and spices. Dip the veggies in the batter and deep fry.
  

• So, what is an onion pakora? Why is it different?

  

  When onions are deep-fried in the besan batter, they are called onion pakora or kanda bhaji. There is no water added to the batter, and this keeps the bhajiyas very crisp.

• Is deep-frying the only option for making Bhajiya?

  

  No, you can also try air-frying and baking. Another low-fat option is using the Appe Patra or paniyaram pan.
  

• How do you serve pakoda?

  

  Any pakoda that is served as a snack or appetizer is served with tomato sauce, mint chutney and tamarind chutney.

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Pairing

These are my favourite dishes to serve with Kanda Bhajiya:

For Foodie Monday Blog Hop, the theme that we voted for was #249 Monsoon Munchies. Keeping in sync with the theme it has been raining since yesterday.

Summary: Kanda Bhajiya or Khekhda Bhaji are delicious onion fitters. A famous snack, appetizer and street food made from sliced onions, gram flour, and traditional spices. Easy, crisp and crunchy, they are the perfect snack for teatime or any occasion.

Have fun making these fitters and don't forget to share your ratings below. Do share this recipe with your family and friends.