Kanda bhaji (Onion fritters)

Back home in Mumbai, whenever I had vada pav, I had to have some kanda bhaji as well. Hot, crispy, spicy, rolled up in a newspaper and perfect every time; with a side of dry garlic chutney. I have fond memories of countless tons of bhaji eaten. Just thinking about them makes my mouth water. Incidentally, this was also the first food item I ever cooked. Usually I am not very fond of frying, health reasons, smoke reasons and also as I have a hard time using up the used oil. Yesterday I wanted to make my favorite Mumbai foods and so I thought of making these along with pav bhaji. There was a huge pile but when it was time to click photos a few were left. Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

2 large onions

1/2-3/4 cup besan (gram flour)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon dhania-jeera powder (cumin-coriander)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1-2 green chilies very finely diced (optional)

Oil to fry (Peanut oil preferred)

Salt

Cut the onions into long strips. Mix in the salt and spices and let it sit for approx 20 minutes. This causes the onions to sweat and there is no need to add additional water to make a batter. Add the flour. The flour should hold the onions together, if not add more flour. It will be a comparatively stiffer batter than most pakora batters. Deep fry till golden brown. Serve with ketchup or dry garlic chutney. Another way to serve it is with pav - just like vada pav.