Bajji Platter (Chilli, Onion, Cauliflower)

                             Bajji Platter (Chilli, Onion, Cauliflower)

        Monsoon is the best time to have pipping hot bajjis, with mint chutney. Usually bajji platter or assorted bajjis are sold by the roadside stalls in Eliot's Beach in Besant Nagar, Chennai. Outside Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradhash, Karnataka and Telangana this bajji is known as pakora.
       It is very popular street food of South India. In Tamilnadu, we use banana chilli or banana pepper for making mirchi bajji, there are many variations like raw banana or vazhaikai bajji, potato bajji, milagai or chilli bajji, onion bajji and bread bajji, etc. 
      Many confuse it with bhaji or thick vegetable curry, here bajji is a similar to fritters or north Indian pakoras. 

Cuisine: South Indian                                                                              Ratio
Preparation Time; 20 minutes                                                  Besan flour: Rice flour
Cooking Time: 5 to 8 minutes for a batch of 5 bajjis                               1: 1/2

Ingredients:
Besan flour: 3 table spoons
Rice flour:  1 1/2 table spoons
Baking soda: 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder: 1 teaspoon
Salt as needed
Cumin or Jeera powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Food colour: Orange (Optional)
Oil for frying

For Mint Chutney:
Onion: 1 no
Tomato: 1no
Grated coconut: 2 tea spoons
Red chilli: 2 nos
Salt as needed
Pudina leaves: 1/4 cup tightly packed
Tamarind: Marble sized ball

For Tempering:
Oil: 2 tea spoons
Mustard seed: 1/2 teaspoon 
Curry leaves: a few 

Method:
1. Take a wide bowl, add besan and rice flour, baking soda, chilli powder, jeera powder, salt and mix well. Add 2 tea spoons of hot oil.
2. Add water to the flour and mix it well without any lumps The batter should be of dosa batter consistency, it should be thick. Let it rest for a while.
3. In the meantime, slit the banana pepper, otherwise known as bajji-milagai, remove the seeds and keep aside.
4. Cut the cauliflower into florets.
5. Peel the onions and cut it into thin circular discs.
6. Place a pan on the stove over medium flame and pour enough oil to fry.
7. Test a small portion of the batter in the oil, it should come up steadily and gradually.
8. Dip one onion slice in the batter and coat it well.
9. Then gently slid the batter coated onion slice into the  hot oil and fry it.
10. When one side is light golden, then gently turn over the bajjis and continue to fry.
11. Turn over a couple of times and fry till the bajjis are golden and crisp.
12. Drain the excess oil off the bajjis and take it out.
13 Similarly fry all the remaining cauliflower and milagai bajjis.
14. Serve it hot with tomato mint chutney.

Method for Tomato Mint chutney:
1. Peel the onions and cut roughly into cubes or simply dice it, roughly cut tomatoes.
2. Place a pan on the stove, heat it, add 1 table spoon of oil and fry the onions and tomatoes, till the onions become translucent. Add red chillies, tamarind, grated coconut and salt. Put off the flame.
4. Let it cool completely.
5. Grind this in a mixie to a fine smooth paste.

For Tempering:
 6. Place another small pan on the stove, add 1/2 teaspoon of oil and heat it. When the oil is hot, add some mustard seeds and wait till it splutters, add curry leaves and put off the flame.
7. Add this tempering to the chutney and mix well.
8. Serve it with bajjis.

 Note:-
  1. Adding rice flour to the bajji batter is necessary to make the bajjis crispy.