Crispy vegetable bhaji with roasted red pepper, rocket & cucumber
Crispy Vegetable Bhaji
Yum Yum! 😀 These are easy, quick, customisable and so yummy! We’ve been having a lot of soupthis week but we do tend to make enough for a couple of days and then just have something easy with it. These are one of those easy things which go well with soup, or just on their own! 😛
Have you all had a good week? Loads of people in the UK hosted a ‘Macmillan Coffee morning’ at the end of last week or over the weekend to raise funds for the Macmillan charity who offer advice, help and support to those people and their families affected by cancer. Lots of cake. Lots of chatting. Lots of donations. We hosted ours a bit late (to make sure we weren’t too stressed trying to squeeze it in with everything else) and had a very busy day with people in and out from 11am until 4pm… and I still didn’t get to talk to everyone enough!!! Oh well there was still lots of good conversation and I think everyone left happy! 🙂 Please don’t be offended if you live near and didn’t get an invite – I was attempting to keep it small this year!!! Ps: If you attended a Macmillan event like ours or made a donation, or both:
Back to these little morsels! Whilst looking for something easy to buy for the coffee morning (it was over lunch time), my best friend said she never buys onion bhajis as they’re always soggy and her daughter likes homemade crispy ones. DING! Lightbulb moment! 😀 Why just use onions! Sweet potato, carrots and mushrooms work perfectly in here but you could use practically any vegetables which have a bit of moisture in them… what a great quick and easy way to use up a load of oddments! 🙂
Crispy vegetable bhaji with roasted red pepper, rocket & cucumber
Mix the carrot, sweet potato, onion and mushroom together.
Add the nutritional yeast, curry, tumeric, coriander, cumin, cajun, chili and garlic, then add salt and pepper as required. Mix the spices through the vegetables thoroughly.
Add the gram flour a spoon at a time and mix through (fingers are useful here). When the mixture is starting to get dry and the gram flour is difficult to mix in, that’s enough! (if you overdo it you could add a splash of milk).
Heat your oil in a shallow pan then cook the bhajees a batch at a time (I used a small pan so cooked them in threes). To cook, flatten a small amount of the mixture in your hand then carefully add to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes then carefully turn over.
Put cooked bhajis on a baking tray in a low oven to keep warm and crispy.
Enjoy!
Serve & Store
These are best eaten immediately but will store in the fridge for a couple of days.
Change the vegetables – use grated potato, cabbage, kale, courgette, radish, beetroot etc.
Add a few whole peas or sweetcorn kernels to the mix.
Mix up the spices – use less chili (or more), add some mixed herbs or whole cumin, coriander or mustard seeds.
Play with the thickness – thinner and crispier or fatter and fluffier.
You can leave out the nutritional yeast if you don’t have any, just add a bit more spice.
Serve as a starter, side, main or snack.
Add a tahini dressing, maybe a yogurt sauce or even a tomato based dip.
Try with salad, soup, or maybe a grain, make it your own!
