This weekend my three sisters are seeing each other after many months of quarantine. It is a lovely family reunion – without me this time. It is too hard to go from Colorado to Ohio right now. Wanted to make some comfort food so I don’t feel like I am missing out. I always love the bhajiyas my mom fries them in chickpea flour – they are wonderful on a rainy day.

I got the idea for the sandwich from our travels in Sicily – they have a fried chickpea sandwich called a Panzella. So instead of just a chickpea dough fritter I decided to add some Indian spices and some greens – to make it a sandwich for lunch. It took my bhajiyas to another level. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp Black pepper, ground
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup Chickpea flour
• 1 tablespoon yogurt
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt or 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger or 1/8 tsp of shredded fresh ginger
• 1/4 onion
• 1/2 tsp cilantro
• Pinch of toasted cumin
• 3 tablespoon of yogurt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 piece of foccacia bread
• 1 cup mixed greens
• 1 tablespoon ranch

1) Cut the onions into half-moon slices, separating each individual slice.

2) Place in a large mixing bowl, and add the garlic, ginger, spices, cilantro and baking powder, and mix gently until combined. 

3) Add the chickpea flour and yogurt, a little at a time, until all the onions are coated well. The mixture should not be a batter but thick enough to hold it’s shape and hold together well — like a thick paste. 

4) Let sit for 2 hours. The water will come out of the onions and make the mixture more gooey.

5) Heat up oil. Test to see if it is hot enough by dropping a small piece of the dough to see if it floats up. Drop all the onions in the batter – cook until golden brown.

6) Add ranch, greens, and bhajiyas to sandwich. Enjoy.