Crispy Onion Bhajiya (Kanda Bhaji)

The first proper rain of June, and every tea stall from Dadar to Deccan puts the kadhai on. The batter is not neat. The man picks up a loose fistful with his fingertips, drops it in from a height, and the ragged edges spread and go gold. In four minutes it comes out on a paper plate with a smear of green chutney and a fried chilli. You stand under the shade, holding hot chai in the other hand, watching the water come down.

Frying is where an oil has nowhere to hide. Wooden cold pressed groundnut oil takes 175 to 180C steadily and stays clear through a full batch, so the last bhajiya is as crisp as the first, and it leaves a light roasted-peanut taste instead of a heavy film on the tongue. It is unrefined, so bring the heat up slowly and keep the flame at medium. Our Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder goes into the onions raw and gives them a warm brick colour without any dust or bitterness.

The one rule: do not add water. Salt the sliced onions with the spices and leave them ten minutes. They will let out enough of their own juice to wet the besan into a thick, sticky coat. Water added from a jug makes a loose batter, and loose batter fries into soft doughy lumps instead of lace.

How to make it

1. Put the sliced onions in a big bowl with the salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, ajwain, coriander seeds, green chillies, coriander leaves and hing. Rub everything together with your fingers for a minute. Leave for 10 minutes. The onions will soften and release water.
2. Add the besan and rice flour. Mix with your hands till every slice is coated in a thick, sticky batter. Add water a spoon at a time only if the flour stays dry. The mix should cling to the onions, not drip.
3. Heat the groundnut oil in a kadhai on medium. Test with a pinch of batter. It should rise to the top in a few seconds with steady bubbles, not turn brown at once.
4. Spoon 1 tbsp of the hot oil into the batter and mix. This little bit of hot oil makes the bhajiya crisp.
5. Pick up small, rough handfuls of the onion mix with your fingertips and drop them into the oil. Do not press them into neat balls. Loose, ragged edges fry crispest. Fry 6 to 8 at a time and do not crowd the kadhai.
6. Fry on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once or twice, till deep golden and crisp all over. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper.
7. Let the oil come back to heat and fry the next batch. Serve hot with green chutney, or stuff into pav with fried green chillies. Chai on the side.

Tips

• Rice flour is the crunch secret. No rice flour? Use 1 tbsp cornflour or 2 tbsp fine rava (semolina).
• Fry on medium, not high. On high heat the outside browns before the onion inside is cooked.
• Slice the onions thin and even, about 2 mm. A sharp knife and a little patience is all it takes.
• Bhajiya are best within 10 minutes of frying. If you must hold them, keep them on a wire rack, never in a closed box, or they turn soft.