Low fat onion bhajis

Thanks to Healthy Supplies I have received few days ago the following ingredients that I am in love with:

Chickpea Flour, Organic (Infinity Foods) 500g
TRS Turmeric Powder (Haldi) 100g
Chilli Powder 100g (TRS)
TRS Ginger Powder 100g
Spelt Flour, Organic 500g (Infinity Foods)
Spelt Flakes 500g
Agave Concentrate Syrup, Organic 250ml (Biona)
Clearspring Mikawa Mirin 150ml
Hemp Oil - Organic, 260ml (Granovita)
Spaghetti, Wholegrain Spelt 500g (Biona)
Organic Rye Grain 500g (Infinity Foods)
Sun-Dried Tomatoes 250g, Organic (Infinity Foods)

Parcel arrived safely and very quickly, the selection of goods on their website is definitely worth recommending. Especially they have a recipe section too.

Having chickpea flour handy and all those lovely fragrant spices I decided to cook onion bhajis. I love the taste of this snack, however the amount of fat needed to cook it concerns me and I did not want the whole house smell of oil. I had them once from a take away and there were repeating on me for two days. Never again! I thought I could bake the bhajis and this is what I found when searching for a low fat recipe.

These are very tasty, smell gorgeous, but do not make your house smell with oil and are low in fat. Perfect!




Makes 6-8

500g white onions, peeled and sliced
4 tbsp of vegetable oil
half tsp chilli powder
half tsp turmeric
half tsp ground ginger
tsp ground cumin
tsp ground coriander
half tsp salt
100g chickpea (gram) flour
about 50ml water
tbsp tomato pure

Fry the onions in a pan with 2 tbsp of oil with pinch of salt, over a low heat until soft but not browned.

Next add turmeric, ginger, chilli and half tsp of both cumin and coriander and mix well, fry for another minute or so.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a large baking tray with some baking paper. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil.

Mix chickpea flower with half tsp of cumin and coriander, salt and add the onions. Mix well until onions are covered in flour.

Mix water with tomato pure and add to the onion mixture. Mix well again and spoon onto the baking tray in 6-8 batches.

Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, then drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil and bake for further 10 minutes.

Remove from the tray and place onto paper kitchen towel to remove the excess of fat. Serve immediately.

Torta/Tarta de Santiago (Light lemon & almond tart)

Makes 25cm round loose bottom tart dish (you can use round 25cm spring form)

250g ground almonds
180-200g caster sugar
4 eggs
zest of one lemon
pinch of salt
icing sugar to dust
little unsalted butter to brush the dish

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Separate egg yolks from whites and using a hand mixer beat the whites with a pinch of salt – they should not be too stiff.

In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks together with a sugar and lemon zest until pale.

Gently add the whites to beaten yolks and mix them using a spatula. Try not to overwork this, because it should stay fluffy. You want as little air to be released from the whites as possible.

Next gently mix the ground almonds into the eggs and pour into a buttered dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes. If the top is getting darker, cover with a piece of tin foil.

Let it cool down for about 15 minutes and dust with some icing sugar.

This cake does not rise at all, so do not worry if it is little bit flat.

Baked chocolate mousse with candied fennel root

From James Martin "Desserts".

Serves 6-8

1/2 fennel bulb, finely sliced
300g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa fat (I used 70%)
150g unsalted butter
6 eggs, separated
50g caster sugar ( I used golden)
150ml whipped double cream, to serve (optional - we tried this with real vanilla ice - cream and it tasted good, but you can also skip cream)

Melt the chocolate and butter in a metal or glass bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk the egg yolks together with 2 tbsp of the sugar for 30 seconds and stir in the melted chocolate. Mix well.

Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until very stiff, then quickly fold one-third of the whites into the chocolate mix. Gently fold in the remainder and pour the mix into a 20cm loose bottom cake tin lined with baking paper and sliced fennel.

Place in the middle shelf of the preheated oven (180C), bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving. It must be eaten in room temperature, as it firms up too much when in the fridge.

For candied fennel

1 fennel bulb
100g caster sugar (again I used golden)
100ml water

Slice the fennel bulb and add to a pan with the sugar and water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool.