Asian - Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Vegetarian (or easy fix)
Recipe:
4 large onions, sliced into THIN (1/8") strips
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 tablespoon of grated ginger (if you only have dried ginger powder, use 1/4 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons of yogurt
1.5 cup of garbanzo bean flour (also called gram flour or chickpea flour or besan)
1.5 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon garaam masala
1 teaspoon crushed cumin
a small handful of parsley leaves, chopped (cilantro works in a pinch)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder (optional) -- I used
fresh curry leaves (optional) -- I skipped
chopped green chilies (optional) -- I skipped
Enough oil for frying
Put your sliced onions in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, mix all the other ingredients in with a spoon. You will get a sandy looking mixture.
Pour the flour mixture into the bowl of onions and with your hands, really work the flour into the onions. Don’t be afraid of squishing it because you want the onions to sweat, the juices will transform this dry-looking mixture into a workable paste. Once it's fairly mixed, microwave briefly at medium power to warm the onions to get them to release moisture faster (for a pared down, one-onion batch, I microwaved for 45 seconds, mixed, then another 45 seconds). Once it feels like it will mostly hold together, you're ready to fry. This genius method is what gives this onion bhaji recipe it’s incredible flavour as there is no dilution, only onions and it’s natural juice.
Heat a deep pan with 3/4-1 inch of vegetable oil (I used a small electric skillet set to 300-325 F).
Fry up scoops of onion bhaji (you can decide on how big you want your bhaji to be) until they are golden and crisp and drain the excess oil to keep the bhaji crispy for longer periods of time.
Eat with the tamarind dipping sauce.
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I haven't tried making the Tamarind Dipping Sauce, but here's the recipe for it that was on the same page:
1/4 package of tamarind pulp
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
1/3 cup of water
Soak tamarind pulp with hot water until soft and pulp is soft and squishy. Squeeze as much pulp out and discard the seeds/sacs.
Mix everything together and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
With a few edits to mixing method, from:
http://kitchenexperiments.net/2013/03/ridiculously-good-onion-bhaji-recipe.html#.U-EQEKPOOKx
