Bengali Style Tempura Celeriac, Chillies and Onions for Nibbles and Snacks

Onion wedges I prefer over bhajis any day!

Aromatic and melt in the mouth inside that crispy batter

Better this way than in a curry as no real heat!

Ok I know we are a nation of onion bhaji lovers and don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a few if I must but I just find them stodgy.
Ok hold back them daggers, it aint my particular cup of tea…and I love Tea!

Give me these boras/tempura alternatives anytime!
I’ve made chilli, celeriac as I love the flavour and texture and onion as I love the taste!

These are far more flavoursome. The taste of the vegetables are not lost in the heavy batter. I don’t use gram flour/besan. Its way too heavy! These tempura boras are light, crispy and quick to fry!

I kept the batter simple.
When the celeriac was done I added 1 tsp of dried methi leaves to the onion batter.
It smells divine when frying.
You really taste the main star ingredient and its embellished by that golden casing!

My way of enjoying a few drinks is with these!
The chillis were really the most mild I’ve had in long while so I threw them in too! Just pierced them to avoid them exploding.
They were yummy between celeriac and onion.

The remaining boras were eaten with Rice and Dal.

A great way to enjoy veg!

INGREDIENTS:

For the Batter:
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 cup self raising flour
1 tbsp chilli flakes
Water

METHOD:

Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Mix well then add cold water to the batter and stir. Add it slowly. I needed about 3/4 cup of water.

Self raising flour
1 cup was enough for all the above

Batter should leave ribbons.

You don’t need to let batter stand as raising agent activates immediately with water.

Veg Prep:

Peel and cut the celeriac into 1 cm thick slices and score the chiliesboth sides.

Pierce chilies

Cut onion into wedges. I cut a large Onion into 10 wedges.

In a non stick pan add some oil to shallow fry. Heat the oil on medium flame and test by dropping a little batter. It should float bubbling at the sides.

First dip the celeriac into the batter, cover well, remove the excess and add to the pan.

Reduce heat and add as many as you can with room to turn.
Leave them till you can see the edges are crisp and bubbling and firm.

Now turn over. Keep the temp med to low.
Use the tip of a knife to check if the batter gets crispy. Cook low and slow. This will give you a crispy finish.

Keep turning to get good colour and good crispyness. When your knife tip goes right through the celeriac but the batter is crispy and sounds solid and looks golden its cooked.

Remove with slotted spoon. Sprinkle with pinch of salt.