SIMPLE KENYAN CAYENNE BHAJIA RECIPE
Food is always inviting provided the appetite does not decide to let you down. That is what happens to me whenever I am walking within the streets of Nairobi while running errands. The smell of the bhajia and frys coming from the fast foods are always inviting me to simply walk-into the fast food and grab my meal right away. I have never understood why the smell is always inviting haha and surprisingly there is always that distinct smell in all those fast foods we could call it the bhajia and frys smell of Kenya. Knowing my love for bhajia, I decided to make this cayenne bhajia to give my bhajias at home a twist from the normal.
This cayenne bhajia is what I will be sharing with you today. It is very easy to prepare and takes a very short time. For parents at home, this is a meal your children will definitely enjoy over the weekends and during the holidays. Cayenne bhajia can also serve as packed lunch provided there is a heating source around because cold potatoes and our appetites do not agree. We are yet to know where their hatred for each other began ??. Before your tummies begin questioning where the recipe is, let’s get right into the kitchen and begin making this sweet cayenne bhajia.
Bhajia is a classic Swahili dish in Kenya. The difference between bhajia and viazi karai is that bhajia uses gram flour while viazi karai uses wheat flour and the potatoes in viazi karai are boiled before frying.
For my video lovers, here is a video on how to prepare the cayenne bhajia
- Potatoes
- 1 1/2 Cups Gram Flour
- 3/4 tbsp Cayenne Powder
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder
- A Pinch of Salt
- A Bunch of Dhania/Parsley
- Frying Oil
- Some Water
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Peel the potatoes and wash them
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On a board slice the potatoes into thin round slices about 1 cm thick in size
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In a separate bowl, add in the gram flour.
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Inside the bowl, add in the cayenne powder, garlic powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and mix together.
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Add water a little bit at a time as you stir until the paste is thick and not watery.
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Add in the salt and dhania/parsley and stir the mixture to form a thick paste.
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In a frying pan, add oil and heat up the oil ensuring the oil does not become too hot. As the oil heats up, add a batch of the potatoes into the paste and coat the potatoes. NOTE: DO NOT ADD EVERYTHING AT ONCE AS IT DESTROYS THE THICKNESS OF THE PASTE.
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Once the potatoes are coated with the paste, dip them into the oil and fry them until golden yellow as you turn on each side ensuring they are crunchy.
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Once cooked, remove the potatoes from the heat, drain the oil and serve the bhajia with your favourite sauce.
Recipe Video
Within minutes your cayenne bhajia are ready for consumption. You can enjoy with some tomato sauce, ketchup or chilli sauce for my people who enjoy firing up the tongue. Not interested with the tomato sauces, do not worry you can make yourself some delicious mayonnaise sauce, tartar sauce, garlic sauce or go wild and make a good homemade sauce that you enjoy.
With your cayenne bhajia and favourite sauce or dipping sauce at hand, sit back and relax as you chill and enjoy your favourite movie on netflix. As for me, I enjoyed mine as I watched an old series that was recommended to me known as Revenge and its one series I wonder why I had not watched it all that while.
Would you be interested in trying out other recipes? Here are a few other recipes you could try out as you enjoy your time in the kitchen. Cumin curry green peas (minji) recipe and honey-cinnamon pork recipe . They all make up for a perfect lunch or dinner and they are well accompanied by meals like rice, chapati and spaghetti. For the video lovers, here is a link
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeagtlPa3Q3LmVr-ywyErQ to my Youtube channel where you can get to watch some more recipes.
Good work just at the right time when weekend is starting
trying it out tomorrow
Thank you. I trust you will enjoy making the bhajia and eating them.