Peyaji
Crunchy savoury-sweet deep-fried onion fritters flavoured with green chillies that are perfect for rainy evenings
- Cooking time30 minutes
Calorieskcal
Peyaji—because who doesn't like fried onions? Even within India there are lots of variations of onion pakoras. They all follow a similar set of ingredients, but the beauty lies in the small deviations. The basic Bengali peyaji (also called Peyaju in Bangladesh) is made with just five ingredients—onions, green chillies, besan, salt, and sugar. But the trick to great peyaji, like any fried dish, is in controlling the moisture. The drier the batter, the crispier the peyaji. Substituting part of the gram flour with rice flour and regular flour also helps keep the peyaji crisp longer. So when the clouds rumble, make some peyaji. It is quick, easy and delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients
- 200 g onions (sliced)
- 10 g green chillies (chopped)
- 5 g salt
- 10 g sugar
- 30 g besan (gram flour)
- 30 g maida (plain flour)
- 10 g rice flour
- ½ tsp turmeric
- oil for frying
Method
- Peel, wash and slice the onions. Chop the green chillies.
- In a mixing bowl, add the onions, chillies, salt and sugar. Scrunch up onions and mix well. Let them sit for five minutes for the moisture to come out from the onions.
- Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a kadai.
- Add besan (gram-flour), rice flour and plain flour to the onions. Mix to form a tight batter. You won't need any additional water. If the mixture appears to be too dry, just let it sit for a few more minutes.
- Take about 20 g of the batter and form into a thin flat patty with your fingers. Drop this gently into the hot oil.
- Fry on low heat, turning them every 30 seconds for even cooking. Serve immediately.
