Gluten Free Onion Bhajis

Onion bhajis don't traditionally have any wheat flour in them, just gram (chick pea) and rice flour. But the ones at the supermarket do have wheat flour in them, and you can't be sure at the takeaway, especially if they have been in the deep fat fryer with floury things.

They are easy to make though, and the gram flour is sold at Morrisons, and sometimes the special section at Sainsburys. I can't be sure there is no cross contamination though, so I'm going to look into that.

On to the recipe! Before you start these, decide how you are going to fry them. I shallow fried them in corn oil (its all I had) but a deep fat fryer would be good too. This recipe makes about 15 bhajis, depending on the size and how many it takes to get right!

large white onions 2, sliced in half and then into thin slices
gram (chick pea) flour 200 gms
rice flour (or dove farm flour) 1 tbsp
garam masala 1 tsp
turmeric 1 tsp
chili flakes 1/4 tsp
coriander 1 tsp chopped fresh or dried
salt 1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp
cold water 200ml

Sift all the dried ingredients into a big bowl, then add the onions and herbs and mix through. Now add the water bit by bit till you have a gloopy sticky batter, leave to thicken for a few mins while you get your oil hot, you know its hot enough when a drop of batter rises instantly, but doesn't go brown right away.

Use small blobs so they can cook all the way through, about a heaped dessert spoon full each time. If you are shallow frying then they will make flat patties rather than balls. Make sure they don't stick to the bottom if shallow frying, I use a non stick pan. Don't rush this, don't croud them in the pan, don't splash yourself with hot oil while turning them. If the oil smokes its too hot, take off the heat right away. Turn half way through cooking. Use a good low taste oil like sunflower or corn oil.

When they are done they will be golden brown, crack one of your first ones open to check they are doing all the way through, and make smaller if they are not. You can eat these right away, with mango chutney and raita. Or you can drain on a rack and then warm later in a hot oven for 4 mins (This also fixes any runny middles!). If you like you can sprinkle them with a little salt and lime juice before you eat them.

I have made a few today, I ate a couple (just to check!) and I'm going to warm the rest in the oven and serve with fish curry later.

In Mauritius we had these little appetiser things the size of marballs, also made of gram flour, called chili bites. They were made of gram flour, and herbs and spices, but were crunchy too, like they had more knobbly gram flour in them or something. They were served with a vicious dip of pure blended green chilies, but were very addictive! I'm gonna ferret out a recipe for those next.

Truffles Restaurant, Kippax

Being gluten free and eating out can be an issue, but I'm reassured by a restaurant that cooks from scratch and has a proper chef, as this makes things easier and more reliable. Truffles in Kippax, Leeds, is a restaurant that takes this one step further. My parents in law booked us all in a while back, and on the day of our booking (maybe a little too late!) I called and left a message on the phone saying I'm gluten free and need to avoid wheat and gluten.

On arrival they knew who I was, and said that it was no problem, most courses were fine and if it wasn't the chef would alter it. I ordered asparagus to start, then the platter of three fish for mains, with confidence. I was reassured when asked that all the food was organic and free range, even the chicken which pleased me as we don't eat battery chicken anymore.

The waitress brought some little nibbles to start with, parma ham and something on bits of bread, but mine came on a little slice of new potato. A brilliant start, followed by some teeny gluten free rolls cooked just for me, fresh from the oven. These were the best bread I have tasted for a long while, to the extent that felt like I should not have even been eating them. My asparagus and hollandaise starter would have come on some ciabatta if I could eat it, but the chef had kindly replaced mine with a crispy potato rosti, which was excellent.

My main required no changes to be suitable, and was very lovely, a trio of prawns, seabass and salmon on a blob of spring onion mash, with a drizzle of different sauce for each one. Cooked to perfection and presented beautifully too.

Dessert was a difficult choice, so I asked the waitress if my friend and I could share the five mini desserts selection, if they were mostly suitable for me, and she went back to the chef to check for me. It turned out that a couple were ok, but the chef could make up a selection of mini desserts that would all be suitable, so very pleased we opted for that.

When the long plate of desserts came over other dinners stopped eating to hear what we had been presented with. We had a square of dense flour-less chocolate and orange cake, a crunchy and chewy meringue topped with mascarpone and raspberry sauce, a creamy mini creme-brulle, a summery medley of plums and strawberries with mint and a spun sugar cage, and finally some divine espresso ice cream topped with pumpkin seed praline. All were fantastic, especially the chocolate orange cake which is also on the main menu called 'Chocolate Nemeis'!

We retired to the conservatory after our meal, and they brought us coffee and home made truffles, the recipe for them is here, and they were very nice too. Truffles is a excellent restaurant, and I feel very lucky to have it almost on my doorstop. No doubt we will be back soon, as there were plenty of other things on the menu I could have chosen. Their attention to my special diet was exemplary and something that other restaurants could do well to learn from.

Dinner at Truffles is around £25-30 a head and very much worth the money, I can't wait to go back, and would love to take my gluten free mum.

Fifteen Events at Grand Designs Live

Last weekend me and the husband went to Grand Designs Live at Excel in London. I won an online interior design competition, so we went down to see my winning room design in the flesh! Down at the event there were various restaurants setup including the Gourmet Builders Cafe, a Seafood and Champagne Bar, and Fifteen (Jamie Oliver's restaurant). We love the Oliver, so we opted for Fifteen.

The menu was a fixed £20.95 for a main and a dessert. My husband opted for roasted free range chicken, wilted leeks and some sort of barley thing, followed by Eaton mess. I had the pea risotto and then the lavender panacotta with spiced plums (I asked them to leave off the gingerbread). All the food was fantastic, loads of it, piping hot and perfect timing.

My risotto was a white one, with fresh peas, asparagus and broad beans in it, a dash of fresh mint, and then some sort of goats cheese and chilli on top, finished with some pea shoots! Amazing flavours and textures, I'm gonna make it at home some time as I think I can guess the recipe easy peasy.

The lavender panacotta was the winner though, the best panacotta I have ever had (and I have eaten a lot!), the lavender flavour was subtle but glorious, and the plums that came with it just brilliant. The whole menu was a taste of summer, though i guess plums are autumn fruits really.

There is an article here about how Jamie does a panacotta, I just need to work out the lavender bit? I think I saw some essence at Salts Mill the other day, it seems someone is making it.