A popular
Indian side dish, onion bhajis consist of chopped
onion fried in
gram batter. They are really a kind of
pakora, but they are generally listed separately on the menus of
Indian restaurants and so on so they deserve a node of their own.
To make the batter, mix up gram flour with a little salt, some sodium bicarbonate and Indian spices: I usually use cumin, ground and whole, ground coriander seeds, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and mustard seeds. You can vary the mix according to taste, or you could just use some ready-mixed garam masala or curry powder. You may also like to add some chopped parsley, coriander and/or fenugreek leaves.
Once these are all mixed together, add water slowly to make a thick batter, then add diced onions. Mix them up so they're well covered. Heat up a good bit of oil in a wok, deep frying pan or deep-fryer; bhajis are best deep-fried but it's quite possible to cook them in less than half an inch of oil. The oil should be pretty hot, but not smoking. Dollop tablespoons full of the mixture into the oil and fry for about three to four minutes, until they are a rich golden brown. Drain and serve.