Blooming Onion Pakodas

November 08, 2021

Adapted from Dassana Amit’s Onion Pakoda recipe, this is the zany marriage of an onion pakoda and the famous Outback Steakhouse Bloomin’ Onion. A visual showstopper and a fragrant, crunchy snack, side dish, or appetizer, we recommend serving this with organic cilantro chutney and local yogurt.

 

ingredients:

• 3 small Local Roots onions
• 1 cup gram flour
• 1 tbsp cilantro leaves
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• ¼ tsp chili powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup water
• neutral oil for frying

 

for Cilantro Chutney:

• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1” fresh ginger
• 1 jalapeño 
• 1 lime
• ½ tsp salt

 

method: 

 

1. Wash and finely chop around 1 tbsp cilantro leaves. In a medium sized bowl, mix 1 cup gram flour, cilantro leaves, turmeric, chili powder, and salt. Mix well, then add water until the batter is free of lumps and the consistency of thick pancake batter. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes. 
2. In the meantime, prepare your onion. Slice off the papery, pointed top. Peel the onion, leaving the root intact. Lay the onion flat side down with the root facing upwards. Beneath the root, slice downwards. Twist 90 degrees and make another slice beneath the root. Repeat until you have made about 16 cuts and each onion slice is thin.
3. Heat around 4” of oil (enough to cover the onion) to 350 degrees, or until a bit of batter floats to the top when dropped in.
4. Turn the onion root-side down and behold your blooming onion. Using a ½ cup measure, scoop up ½ cup of the gram flour mixture. Gently set the blooming onion into the batter, then pour the reserved ½ cup of batter over until the onion slices are coated. Carefully lower the onion into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, around 10 minutes, flipping once in between.
5. While the onion is frying, add the rest of the bunch of cilantro, peel the ginger, roughly chop the jalapeño, and cut the lime in half. Add the vegetables, salt, and squeeze of ½ lime’s juice into a blender. Blend until smooth, then taste for lime juice and salt, adding more to your preference.
6. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift the blooming onion out of the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve the blooming onion alongside the cilantro chutney. Enjoy by pulling off each petal and dipping into the chutney. We recommend stirring some chutney through full fat Greek yogurt for a cooling dipping sauce. 

 

This recipe was created by Local Roots recipe developer Irena Huang.

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