Onion and Carrot Bhajis

These spicy snacks are 1 syn each and a perfect starter or lunchtime treat with salad and fresh lemon.  There are quite a lot of spices in this recipe but don’t let that put you off, they taste exactly like you get at a restaurant, just less oily - definately worth the effort!

It’ll take you 30-40 minutes to do these so just bear that in mind.  This recipe makes 12 but just scale it up as needed

Ingredients

2 large red onions cut into thin slices

1-2 carrots (depending on size) coarsely grated

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon hot chilli powder

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

70g chickpea (gram) flour

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon coriander seeds ground up

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon tomato puree

Frylite

Lemon to garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 or 200 degrees

Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper

Finely cut your onions and coarsely grate the carrot.  Spray a wok or large frying pan with Frylite (I used the garlic one) and cook your veg over a medium heat until softened.  You do not want it to brown so if you need to spay a couple more times to make sure it softens then do so, this should take about 10 minutes

When they’re softened put the onion/carrot mix in a bowl.  Add the turmeric, chilli powder, ground coriander, ground cumin and ginger and stir through.  You do this off the heat so the spices don’t start cooking

Once the spices are mixed through, add the gram flour, salt, coriander seeds and cumin seeds and mix again.  The mixture will be quite thick.  Next add the tomato puree and 4 tablespoons of water.  This loosens the bhaji mix and makes more of the batter consistency you’re expecting

Divide the mix into equal portions, you should get about 12 and place on your lined baking tray lightly spraying with frylite

Bake for 10 minutes

After 10 minutes turn them and spray lightly with fry lite, this makes sure they’re crispy all over and don’t have soggy bottoms (!)

Cook for another 10 minutes or until golden brown

Serve immediately with lemon wedges and salad

1 syn onion and carrot bhajis