Lighter Air Fryer Onion Bhaji or Bhajia Quick and Easy
My air fryer onion bhaji recipe is a thing of great beauty; it is simply an onion fritter made from a spiced batter, and they taste fantastic.
I like to cook these in an air fryer, as maintaining a clean deep-fat fryer is a chore, but I have instructions for frying too.
The Great Onion Bhaji
My love of Indian food is scarcely hidden here on my site; there is, however, a lack of Indian starters, sides and snacks.
Now that is not because I do not like them, but it is because they are often fried.
It is not the frying that causes me concern; it is having oil in the fryer hanging around all of the time.
Also, the spicing in Indian food means that the oil really is only of future use with similarly spiced food.
As a result, I was always going to follow up my air fryer chicken wings and air fryer arancini with this pakora recipe.
I was already making plans for this air fryer onion bhaji recipe before I hit the "add to cart" button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Bhajia cooked in an Air Fryer worth it?
Yes... Well, of course, that was going to be the answer, or they would not be here!
Are they as good as a fried pakora? Sadly not; however, that does not mean that they should be discounted.
I have not eaten any form of homemade bhaji for far too long, and the reason is that whole oil hanging around 'thing'.
Cooking them in this way means that I am more likely to cook them, which is a good thing!
Are these onion bhaji spicy?
My version is heavily spiced; however, they are not spicy hot.
I have no idea why, but I have never put chilli in any form into mine. I guess it is a habit; if you wanted, you could shred fresh chilli and add it to the mix.
Alternatively, you could add chilli powder to the batter mix.
Can I use plain flour?
You could, but in my testing, I found that plain flour led to bhajis that were quite "stodgy".
The combination of rice flour and gram flour gave crispy bhaji with just the right amount of batter. If you have too much, the centre of your bhaji will be stodgy and gloopy.
That is not good; you need to have just enough batter to loosely hold together the onions.
Serving Suggestions
I've always known onion bhaji as a starter with an Indian Chutney in a British Indian restaurant. Something like this green tomato chutney would be perfect.
However, I love dipping them in curry! In fact, you will see a take on my pork vindaloo in the background of these pictures.
And yup, I use them in lieu of naan bread, because, well, because I can!
I always add a yoghurt and mint sauce too; essentially, it is my mint raita recipe without the cucumber.
You could also scale these and use them on my magical onion bhaji burger!
Equipment Used
I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Air fryer, I have also given instructions for frying, so you can use a wok or deep-fat fryer.
- Stovetop or microwave to melt the ghee.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Mixing bowl.
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
Air Fryer Onion Bhaji Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Onion 150g
- 45 g Gram Flour ¼ Cup + 1 tablespoon
- 15 g Rice Flour 1½ tablespoon
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Onion Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Brown Sugar
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 15 g Ginger ½ thumb-sized piece
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 10 g Chives ¼ Cup
- 100 ml Water ⅓ Cup + 1 Tbsp
- Oil Spray
Instructions
- Melt the ghee over a low heat.
- Peel and grate the ginger.
- Peel and chop the garlic.
- Mix all of the ingredients (except the onion) in a mixing bowl.
- Top and tail the onion and remove the skin, cut it in half and finely slice from the top to bottom and add it to the bowl, then stir to combine.
- Spray the air fryer basket with oil.
- Wet your hands and form into 4 fairly loosely formed 'balls'.
- Place the balls in the air fryer, spray them with oil spray and then cook for 12 minutes at 180°C or 350°F.After 12 minutes, increase the temperature to 200°C or 400°F, respray with oil and cook for a further 4 minutes.
To Deep Fry:
- Follow my instructions to point 6.
- Drop into hot oil at 180°C or 350°F and cook for 4-6 minutes, flipping over halfway through.
- Transfer to a piece of kitchen paper and allow to cool a little before serving.
When I made these they were too runny and spread, which then stuck to the tray, I was using the power XL air fryer, very tasty though and will make them again using less liquid.
Just made these. I have tried umpteen different recipes and all go doughy. These were brilliant, light, tasty with a bit of spice. The best I've made and now my goto bhaji recipe.
Glad that you enjoyed the Roger, thanks for taking the time to comment, it makes a huge difference to sites like mine 🙂
Brian
Lovely, thanks! I used a splash of oil in place of the ghee (I just didn’t have any to hand but as an aside it makes them vegan if anyone needs that). I also added a bit of garam masala to the spicing, just because I fancied it. A great alternative to deep fried restaurant/take away ones, much easier to justify as an everyday thing!
Glad you enjoyed them Joanne... your last point is exactly why I came up with these, deep fried bhaji are not the sort of thing that you can do everyday, or even every time it's curry night but these are perfect for increasing my bhaji intake 🙂
Have been looking for a good bhaji recipe, so might try this. Just a couple of questions,
if using gram and rice flour, this WOULD make them gluten free wouldn't it?
Have you ever pre-made and kept them for a future meal. How long will they keep and how should I keep them. Assume that they would not freeze well?
Anybody out there tried this?
Thanks
Julie
Hi Julie...
Gram flour and rice flour are gluten free (I believe) although you do need to be careful to ensure that it is processed in a way to avoid cross-contamination if you are GF for medical reasons.
As for freezing them I am not a fan personally speaking. I have tried, but they become soft and doughy which I am not keen on.
Enjoy
Brian
Although I have gram flour I don’t have rice flour is there a substitute please
Use regular all-purpose flour, it will make the dough a little heavier so just add it a little at a time until it gets to a good texture similar to the one in my video and you should be good to go.
@Brian Jones, would coconut flour work?
Hi Jason
You could make it work but you would need to significantly tinker with the ratios. I've never used coconut flour, so had to do a little research, but it would seem that most places recommend using half of the amount of coconut flour in recipes when you are subbing for gram flour and shifting around the amount of water in the recipe.
But if you make the batter to the same thickness in my video (below the recipe), you will be in roughly the right place. I'm not sure how they will cook up though, gram is kinda doughy similar to coconut flour, but rice flour gives a lovely crunch. If you do experiment please do come back and let me know how you get on.
Brian
These are really tasty, but they stick to the bottom of the air fryer. I sprayed with olive oil, a lot, it still stuck.. any advice??
Hi Nanda, glad you like them... Mine did not really stick at all, but if they are an easy solution would be to cut some small rounds of baking parchment the same size as the bhaji and cook them on that.
You're a genius. I adore good onion bhajis. I have an air fryer and gram flour so looks like I'm going to have to try making some.
Now that's not a word I am associated with often 😉 Enjoy 😀
The consistency was rather runny. Is it 100ml of water or 10? I am cooking them now so I don't what I ll end up with but they smell nice whilst cooking!
That very odd, it definitely 100ml I make these all of the time. They mix should not be like a bread dough, it should be relatively "fluid" but certainly not like water.
I've just bought an air fryer and these were the very first thing I made. Bloody fantastic is my verdict!
Can we have more of these Indian-style recipes, please?
Cheers David... I'm currently working on cooking samosa in the air fryer, they taste fantastic, but my folding technique is shocking but they will appear just as soon as I have it nailed down.
In the meantime have a crack at my Tandoori chicken marinade, and then cook it in the air fryer. Wings take about 20 minutes, thighs 30-35 and tenders or breast meat between 10 and 15 depending on how it is cooked. Start at 180C and then increase to 200C for the last 5-10 to get a nice char.
Can't wait to try these!
These are beautiful! I've actually never heard of this recipe before, but it looks tasty.
They are one of my favourite Indian snacks 😀
Another great use of the air fryer. This is such a creative dish... can't wait to try it.
Thanks Julie... Enjoy!
You are right, they are gorgeous! I adore the mixture of spices! Can't wait to try it!
Thanks Beth
@Brian Jones, what can I use instead of ghee??
Hey Vicky, butter would be a direct like for like sub, but you could switch to a mildly flavoured oil if you like, something like peanut or rapeseed (canola) oil would be fine.
@Vicky, just melt some butter in a pan, as it cools, sieve out the solids and use the clear liquid...
What a great recipe - I am saying I have to get an air fryer for quite some time now. I do avoid recipes like this because of the deep frying aspect but I think an air fryer would help reducing the oil amounts quite significantly. Yumm looking onion bhajis !!