Hadga/Agasti Flower Bhajias

A very Happy New Year to all of you.

I am back after a looooooong silence on MyFoodcourt. As you can guess the resolution for 2015 is to blog as much I can!

I have been thinking of posting recipes for a long time. The ‘comeback recipe’ for the blog has spanned from Christmas cake to Yule log to Pavlova to a humble porridge-but only in my mind!

A trip to the older part of the city a couple of days back lead me to a treasured discovery- the edible Hadga flowers. I had a faint memory of my childhood ,of my Mom using these flowers for cooking. The lady selling these flowers was kind enough to inform me that I need to remove the bitter tasting stamens from the flowers before cooking them.

A chat with Mom about these flowers and she was nostalgic about how these flowers reminded her of her childhood. (Now you know where my love for these offbeat, treasured foods comes from). Mom said she makes a ‘Pith Perun’ bhaji (stir fry with Besan/chana dal flour).Our house help informed me that you can make sinful Bhajias with these flowers. The dipping mercury made the Bhajias more tempting than the stir fry …and so Bhajias were made. The stir fry has to wait its turn, but I had to blog about these treasured flowers rightaway!

FB comments on the photo of the flowers and Google research have enlightened me that they are also known as Agasti,Bokful in other Indian languages and also that they are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asian countries.

I have used carbonated water just to make the Bhajias crispier- just plain water will be fine too.We enjoyed the crispy Hadga Bhajias sans accompaniment.

Here’s my recipe for

Hadga Flowers Bhajia

Hadga/Agasti Flower Bhajias

Print Recipe

Hadga/Agasti Flower Bhajias Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 - 10 Hadga flowers (the younger flowers are better for Bhajias, but I had to make do with whatever I had)
• xbd cup Besan / Chana dal Flour
• xbd cup Rice flour
• xbd tsp Asafoetida (hing)
• xbd tsp turmeric powder
• xbd tsp Red chilli powder
• xbd tsp seeds Ajawain/carom (optional)
• water Carbonated (or plain) to make a the batter
• to taste Salt
• Oil for deep frying

Servings:

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a wok.
2. Remove the stamens from the flowers and keep aside.
3. Mix the flours, spices, Ajwain and salt in a bowl.
4. Add 2 tsp of the hot oil to this dry mix.
5. Add the carbonated water to the dry mix to make the batter (not too thick, not too thin) ~ 1/4 cup
6. Coat each Hadga flower with the batter and deep fry on medium heat till crisp and lightly browned.
7. Serve immediately.