Pumpkin & Onion “Bhajis”

Amazing

With all of this pumpkin that I still have in the fridge I’ve been playing around with random ideas in the kitchen.  One of the more successful things I made was a take on Indian onion bhajis.  The first batch I made without flour, and they were a bit soft for my liking.  This is the second attempt and they came out perfect.  They’re very easy to make, the key is getting as much liquid out of the pumpkin as possible.

2 1/2 Cups Fresh Pumpkin, chopped

1 Medium Onion, sliced thinly

1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp Hot Indian Chili Powder

1/2 Tsp Coriander Seeds

1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds

Sea Salt

Vegetable Oil

In a medium saucepan cover the pumpkin with boiling water and simmer until soft (~6 min.).  Strain the pumpkin and mash in a bowl.  Put the mash into a fine mesh strainer, allow all excess water to drain out (press it if need be ~10 min).  Slice one medium onion into thin small pieces (vary size).  Grind the cumin and coriander seeds.  Mix the onion with pumpkin, flour, hot chili powder, coriander, and cumin.  Heat a large skillet with vegetable oil (medium high).  Spoon in mixture to desired size and gently flatten out with a spatula.  Brown on one side (~4 min), flip and cook the other side for 4 min (or until golden brown).  Transfer to a paper towel and salt immediately.  Yum!  This should make about 12 bhajis.  While frying these, don’t hesitate to get a hard crust.  They will still have a creamy pumpkin texture inside, amazing!

Chopped Pumpkin

Simmer until soft (~6 min)

Drain before mashing

Mash it up!

Strain the mash

A fair amount of liquid should strain off

Grind the seeds

Sliced onions

Adding everything together

Bhaji mixture ready to fry

Into the pan

Get a nice crust on each side

Let rest and salt

Inside view

Amazing