BHAJJI PLATTER

Rainy season...........how lovely it is...sun playing hide and seek behind the clouds, small droplets falling on you, small puddles all over the road, an unwanted laziness, craving for a hot cup of coffee or tea.....along with Bhajjis, pakoras or bondas.........straight from the oil to your plate.....
This is what I did today....for lunch, I decided to make 7 kinds of Bhajjis with coconut chutney, and mixed up a curd rice. That's all. A guilty feeling pricking my heart.....but, once in a way, that is okay.
This Bhajji Platter is  going to be my entry for  Monsoon Mojo Event.

First on the top left is Coconut chutney, Ridgegourd  Bhajjis, Raw banana bhajjis, Chillies, Onion rings, Green bell pepper, Potato and Paneer.

Ingredients

 12 slices of ridgegourd

  6 slices of Raw banana

4 chillies

8 Onion rings

8 sliced bell peppers

8 slices of potato

8 slices of Paneer

For stuffing the chillies

Cooked and mashed potatoes - 2

Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp

salt to taste

Coriander leaves, washed and chopped

Hing powder - 1/4 tsp

Lemon juice - 1tsp

Lemon juice - 1 tsp to smear the inside of the chillies

For the batter

Besan flour - 4 cups

Chilli powder - 2 tsps

salt to taste

Rice flour - 4 tsps

Ajwain/Carom seeds/Omam - 1 tsp

Baking powder - 2 small pinches

Enough water to make it to  dosa batter  consistency

Recipe Cuisine: South Indian; Category: Snacks

Prep time: 20mts; Cooking time: 30mts

Makes the number of bhajjis mentioned as slices.

Serves 6

All the mentioned ingredients for the batter

Chillies, washed, wiped, deseeded, and lemon juice smeared inside to reduce its spice

Paneer slices, marinated with salt and chilli flakes

Bellpepper and  ridgegourd sliced, onion cut into rings

Sliced potatoes in water

                                                         Sliced raw banana in water

Batter mixed to dosa batter  consistency. If it is too watery, it will take in  more oil and only a thin coating will be there on bhajjis. If it is too thick, then it won't be good, when we take a bite, it will be fully batter, then inside will be a thin layer of vegetable. So, the consistency of the batter is very very important.

Ridgegourd slices, dip into batter, making sure that both the sides are well coated, take it out gently,  then  slip it into the oil, and fry well.  Always remember, oil has to be really hot, otherwise, bhajjis will not puff up, and will also drink lot of oil.

Many do not make  Peerkangai / Ridgegourd bhajjis,  , but this is a real delicacy, extremely flavourful and tasty.

Ridgegourd / Peerkangai bhajjis with a cup of hot tea!

Potato bhajjis

Bell pepper bhajjis

Raw banana bhajjis

Paneer bhajjis

Onion rings

All the ingredients mentioned above for the potato stuffing, mixed well,  and stuffed  inside the slits of the chillies, then fried. Chilli bhajjis

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Notes

* We cannot always measure the besan flour batter exactly. Sometimes, the vegetable slices will be there, and , in that case, we may have to mix some more batter. So, it is always good to keep the necessary flours, and spices handy.

Categories: Snacks, Starters