Total Time: 40 mins Serves: 4
Recipe adapted: from BBC Food
Ingredients:
- 1 cup carrots, grated
- 1 cup parsnips, grated
- (feel free to sub these out for the root vegetables you have on hand!)
- 1 cup gram (chickpea) flour, or sub 1:1 regular flour.
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Oil for frying bhajis
- Alternatively, you could pan fry or oven roast with less oil.
- For the chutney
- large handful fresh coriander
- 3 fresh green chillies or sub red pepper flakes to taste
- 3 tbsp lemon or lime juice
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Directions:
- For the bhajis, put the carrots, parsnips, flour, spices and salt into a large bowl and mix with your hands to release some of the moisture.
- Add the eggs and mix well. The mixture should be like a thick batter. Almost like an uncooked carrot cake batter.
- If deep frying: Fill a deep-fat fryer or a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan two-thirds full with the oil. Heat to 150C (a drop of batter should sizzle and float to the top.) Working in batches, drop heaped teaspoons of the batter into the oil and cook for 3–4 minutes, turning the bhajis all the time so they are an even golden colour. Drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest.
- If pan frying: use 2 tbsp oil, replenishing as needed, add heaping tbsp measurements but flatten them with a spatula to allow for even crisping
- If oven roasting: they won’t be quite as crisp but they will still be delicious! Cook @ 400F until golden brown.
- To make the chutney, put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend into a smooth paste. Serve with the bhajis.
Notes:
Not into cilantro? Try making an apple chutney or a citrusy garlic yogurt sauce for dipping!
You can use any root vegetable (onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, turnips, radish)