Chilly Bhajia - March na bhajia

These chilly bhajias (marcha na bhajia) can be as hot or as mild as you like them by choosing the right chillies.  You can choose the Thai sweet chillies or the Indian hot chillies depending on your mood.  


They are simple, easy and very quick to make.  They make a great snack but also good for starters as long as you make a variety of bhajias. I tend to make a mixture of crispy potato bhajias, onion bhajias and chilly bhajias.   


Ingredients for 4 servings:


10-12 large green chillies
2 cup chick pea flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ajwain (Carom seeds)
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of soda bicarbonate


Method:


1. Cut and slice the chillies.  Deseed them and wash and dry them on a kitchen paper. You can leave them whole as long as you prick them or they may pop when frying. Also leaving the seeds in the chilly may make them too hot.

2. Mix the salt, pepper, ajwain and turmeric with the chick pea flour.


3. Add a quarter cup of water to this mixture and stir it well. The bhajia batter should be thick at this stage. You can always  add more water if you feel that the batter is too thick.


4. Keep this mixture aside 30 minutes.

5. Start to heat some oil in a wok. Turn the heat high, once the oil has heated, lower the heat. Check that the oil is hot by dropping a couple of drops of the batter in oil. If the batter rises quickly, the oil is ready.


6. Add the bicarbonate of soda, together with a teaspoon of hot oil from the wok to the batter and stir well. If the batter feels too thick – you can add a couple of tablespoons of water to the batter.


7. Dip one chilly  slice at a time into the bhajia batter and fry these bhajias at medium heat to allow them to cook until they are crispy and firm but taking care not to let them get too dark..

8. Serve them hot with some green chutney or tomato sauce.

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