Onion Bhaji Recipe | Easy Plain Flour Method | Hint Of Helen (2024)

FAQs

Can I use plain flour instead of gram flour? ›

You can substitute the gram flour for plain/all purpose flour if you would prefer and they would work just as well, but I like the interesting 'nutty' taste of the gram flour.

Traditionally, pakoras, or pakodas, are made using gram flour (besan) as the primary ingredient for the batter. Gram flour gives pakoras a distinctive flavor, texture, and golden color when fried. However, it's possible to make pakoras using maida (all-purpose flour), although the texture and taste will be different.

The best fix is to make sure your onion is as finely sliced as possible – the finer the mixture, the better it will bind. If your bhajis are still falling apart in the oven, we'd recommend trying a muffin tray lined with low calorie cooking spray to separate the mixture into 12 individual moulds.

Traditional onion bhaji recipes call for gram flour (chickpea flour), but I realise most of us don't have that lying about at home (if you do, great job!). So I created this no-gram flour recipe using just plain flour so you can whip up a batch of onion bhajis with pantry ingredients.

Regular all-purpose wheat flour can often be used as a substitute for gram flour in recipes that call for binding or thickening, such as pancakes, fritters, or batters.

If you need a chickpea flour substitute for Indian recipes – whether curries, bhajis, pakoras or anything similar – fava bean flour is the ideal alternative.

Rice flour is more commonly used in South India for pakora. It gives a great crunch and helps to reduce the pakora from soaking up oil. The street side shops use cornstarch as the starch gives crispier vegetable pakoras. So feel free to substitute rice flour with corn starch.

While gram flour should be used wherever possible, this recipe shows how to make pakora using a mix of plain/all-purpose flour and cornflour/corn starch with more than acceptable results.

It can mean different things dependent on whether you are in North or South India. Pakora is a Punjabi word, and refers to vegetables, meat or fish deep fried in a spicy batter. Bhajis can refer to deep fried vegetables as well as other vegetarian dishes.

What are onion bhajis made of? ›

Gently fried onion fritter spiced with cumin, turmeric and coriander. Can be eaten cold or reheated in the oven.

Suji or Rava: Semolina (wheat)-based and often used as a batter for Indian dishes such as Upma and Rawa Ladoo. Maida: Refined wheat flour found in some Indian desserts, breads, and other menu items.

It also contains fiber, manganese, nutrient B6, potassium, copper. Onion bhajia are very low in calories one more valid justification is to eat it as a guide to weight loss, likewise known to assist with killing microbes that might cause colds and other nasties throughout the cold weather months.

A bhaji/bajji is a type of fritter originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made from spicy hot vegetables, commonly onion, and has several variants. It is a popular snack food in India and is also very popular in Pakistan.

Graham Flour Substitute

The best substitute for graham flour is unbleached, unrefined whole wheat flour. If possible, look for unsifted whole wheat flour. Alternatively, use a mixture of 2:1 white flour and wheat bran along with one to two teaspoons of wheat germ per cup.

Chickpea flour and gram flour are actually the same thing, just known by different names in different regions. Both terms refer to a flour made from ground chickpeas, and are commonly used in Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi cuisines. In some other parts of the world, it is also known as garbanzo flour or besan.

Gram flour, also called besan, garbanzo flour, or chickpea flour, is made from ground chickpeas, which are naturally gluten-free. Chickpeas also have many names, including garbanzo beans, garbanzo, gram, Bengal gram, Egyptian pea, cici beans, chi chi beans and cece beans.

Almond Flour: This is a very nutty (and gluten free!) flour option. Use almond flour instead of chickpea flour at a 1 to 1 ratio. Tapioca Flour: Tapioca flour is a gluten free option that may not be the best chickpea flour substitute, but is an option.