Crispy, Crunchy, Spicy Vegetable Fritters (Bajo)

Crispy, Crunchy, Spicy Vegetable Fritters (Bajo)

Hello,

This was my lunch last weekend. Yup. I skipped the deliciousss dalithoy & rice there was. And got stuck with bajos.  Saving myself from extra calories by skipping rice. 🤭 I usually tend to do that. You do that too? We eat rice everyday ain't we?

Why are bajos a big deal? Not cuz they're made once in a while. It's because a very simple ground rice batter makes boring veggies taste amaze balls amazinggg. Here's a recipe to make veggies taste amazingggg by making awesomely deliciousss bajos. Crispy, crunchy, spicy & delicious. Bajos are spicy fritters made by deep frying veggies coated in a spicy batter. And you can make fritters out of every veggie using this spicy rice batter recipe. Make every bajo you wish to.

Raw Jackfruit Fritters (Kadgi Phodi)

Pickled Bamboo Shoot Fritters (Kirla Bajo)

Deep Fried Eggplant/Brinjal Fritters (Gulla Phodi/Bajo)

Kantola/ Teasel Gourd Fritters (Phagla Phodi)

Taro Roots Fritters (Kaale Alvaa Maddi Phodi)

Bitter Gourd Fritters Recipe (Karathe Bajo)

Raw banana (kele bajo - recipe below,

Sweet Nendran banana (nendra kele bajo),

Potatoes (batate phodi), 

Capsicum,

Sweet potato (kanga phodi) & every other veggie you can name. 


Ingredients:

  • 3/4 - 1 cup of dosa rice/sonamasuri
  • 5-6 dried red chillies
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tamarind seed sized tamarind
  • A tiny piece of crystal asafoetida
  • 2 tablespoons of gram flour
  • Oil for deep frying
  • Veggies of your choice

Batter Preparation Method:

1. Soak rice for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes grind it along with dried red chillies, salt, crystal asafoetida & tamarind into a smooth paste using as little water as you can.

3. Transfer it into a mixing bowl. 

4. Add gram flour & mix well. 

5. Check & adjust salt. 

6. Add little water if needed such that it's medium thick in consistency.

7. The batter shouldn't be too thick or too thin in consistency. If it's thick extra batter will stick to phodi. If it's dripping thin it'll drip off the veggies. 

If you dilute it more than required by mistake add in gram flour to thicken it. 


Using the above batter you can make:

Cauliflower Fritters (Cauliflower Bajo)

Drumstick Fritters (Mashinga Sanga Bajo)

Raw banana bajo 

1. Peel raw bananas. Slice them thin vertically or horizontally. 

2. Add salt to taste & let them sit for 3-4 minutes. They take up salt during this time. 

3. After 3-4 minutes, dip them in the ground batter & deep fry them on medium heat to ensure uniform cooking.

Capsicum bajo 

Now if you want to make proper capsicum bajo I'll share recipe with steps to ensure they won't get oily & cook beautifully. The capsicum bajo/fritters you see in the above pic are super crunchy & crispy & are made when there's very little batter left. To make them 

1. Slice capsicum thinly into 2 inch pieces. Add salt & let them stand for 3 minutes. They take in salt during this time.

2. Add little gram flour to the remaining batter if needed. Add capsicum pieces to the batter draining out any water present. 

3. Mix in well & deep fry them. They make clump together while deep fry but get crispy, crunchy & yum on deep frying.

Tags: Chauthi, Ganesh chaturthi