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Wild Garlic and Potato Bhajis
Wild garlic, mixed with shredded potato and onion, is fried in a light, spicy batter for a fresher, crispier take on the Indian takeaway classic. Serve these delicious fritters hot and crunchy from the pan, with a dish of punchy wild garlic and tomato chutney to dip them in.
Serves : 4–6
Prep : 15 minutes
Cook : 20 minutes
- 7cm root ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 250g chickpea flour (also known as gram flour)
- 3 tablespoons rice flour (or uncooked rice, ground finely in a spice grinder)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 large onion, halved and sliced into half-moons
- 400g potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated (use a waxy, salad-type potato for best results)
- 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
- 100g wild garlic leaves, stems removed and finely shredded
- Oil for deep frying
FOR THE WILD GARLIC AND TOMATO CHUTNEY
- 1 green chilli, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 4 tomatoes, finely chopped
- About 8 leaves of wild garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method
- To make the batter, peel and crush the root ginger to a paste with the cumin seeds and salt in a pestle and mortar or mini-processor. Put the chickpea flour in a large mixing bowl, and add the rice flour, baking powder, chilli powder and ginger paste. Whisk in about 300ml water to make a thin batter, about the consistency of double cream. Add the onion, potato, wild garlic and red chillies and mix well to evenly combine.
- Prepare the oil for deep frying. If using a deep-fat fryer, preheat the oil to 170˚C. If you’re using a pan, choose a wide, deep one and do not fill it above a third of its depth with oil. Set over a high heat, and to test if it is ready for frying drop a little batter into the oil – if it immediately rises surrounded in bubbles, the oil is hot enough.
- While the oil is heating up, make the chutney. Crush the green chilli with the cumin seeds and salt to a paste in a pestle and mortar or mini-processor. Tip the paste into a small bowl and add the tomatoes, wild garlic and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and set aside.
- When the oil is up to temperature, take a mounded tablespoon of batter-coated vegetables. Keeping the tablespoon close to the surface of the oil to avoid splashing, use a fork to gently scrape the contents of the tablespoon into the oil. Cook the resulting fritter on one side for a couple of minutes, until browned and golden, then use a slotted spoon to turn it over to cook the other side. When golden and crisp, lift the fritter out of the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Taste it to see if you need to add more salt or chilli, then fry the remaining batter mixture in small batches in the same way. Do not overcrowd the pan, or the bhajis might stick to each other or become greasy.
- After they’ve drained briefly on the kitchen paper, serve the bhajis with little dishes of the chutney.
Credits
Recipe and photos by Otherwise for Wild Food UK
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