Kanda Bhajiकांदा भजी
⏱ Prep 20m🍳 Cook 20m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Vegan
Video: Your Food Lab (YouTube)
Kanda bhaji is Maharashtra's answer to the monsoon craving — thinly sliced onion strips tangled in a besan batter and fried until shatteringly crisp. Unlike thicker pakoras from northern India, the best kanda bhaji are loose and lacey, so more surface area touches the hot oil. They are sold outside every tapri in Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik on rainy evenings, and eaten alongside a cup of strong milky chai.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- ▪onion, halved and very thinly sliced3 large
- ▪besan (chickpea flour)1 cup
- ▪rice flour (for crispness)2 tbsp
- ▪green chili, finely chopped3
- ▪ginger, grated½ tsp
- ▪cumin seeds½ tsp
- ▪turmeric powder¼ tsp
- ▪red chili powder½ tsp
- ▪baking soda⅛ tsp
- ▪saltto taste
- ▪oil for deep fryingas needed
- ▪fresh coriander, chopped2 tbsp
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Besan (chickpea flour) is sold in South Asian and Middle Eastern grocery stores worldwide, often also labeled as gram flour. Bob's Red Mill makes a version available in health food stores across North America.
- Adding rice flour is a Maharashtrian trick for extra crispness and is available at most Asian grocery stores. Without it, increase besan by the same amount, but the bhaji will be slightly softer.
- The heat from fresh green chilies varies outside India; finger chilies or bird's eye chilies are closest. Serrano peppers are a good supermarket substitute; jalapeños are milder and may need to be used in larger quantity.
Method
- 1Thinly slice the onions and place in a large bowl. Add salt and mix well with your hands. Rest for 10 minutes — the onions will release water and soften.
- 2Squeeze the onions firmly with your hands to draw out as much moisture as possible. This step is important so the batter does not become too wet.
- 3Add besan, rice flour, green chili, ginger, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, and baking soda to the onions. Mix everything together.
- 4Do not add water unless absolutely necessary — the moisture the onions released should be enough to bind the batter. The mixture should be thick, sticky, and clumpy rather than pourable.
- 5Heat oil in a kadai over medium-high heat until hot, around 170C. Test with a small piece of batter — it should sizzle and rise to the surface within a few seconds.
- 6Slide small, loosely-packed portions of the onion mixture into the oil. Avoid pressing them into balls; the loose, ragged shape creates the lacey texture Maharashtra bhaji are known for.
- 7Fry for 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally, until deep golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels.
- 8Scatter coriander on top and serve immediately with green chutney and hot chai.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.