Bajiya
- Soomaali
- Bajiyo
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- not translated yet
- العربية
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By Leila & Abdullahi · ·
Ahh! Bajiya! We just love them. How can you not? Eat them fresh and you will become addicted.
Bajiyas, are a regular fixture on iftar tables (breaking the fast in Ramadan), they are part of the Asariyo Quartet (one of the four essential elements of the Somali Afternoon Tea), and they are the ultimate street food. Whether you are in Mogadishu, Brava, Merca, Kismayu, and countless other cities in Somalia, you will find street peddlers selling bajiyas in the market. They are cheap and they don’t spoil easily.
Bajiyas also known as vadas in the Indian subcontinent, are made from black-eyed peas. In Brava, they were also made from azuki beans. Since it is important that bajiyas have some texture, the skins are removed from the peas after soaking them. If the peas were to be ground into a smooth paste, removing the skins would not have been necessary. Bajiyas, however, benefit from having a little coarse texture which makes them more crunchy.
It is a good idea to prepare a large batch of the crushed and skinned black-eyed peas (without the onions, tomatoes, garlic, etc). You can store them in small freezer bags for a couple of months. This way you can make tasty bajiyas at a moment’s notice.
Bajiyas are usually served with a spicy sauce, even though they are great just on their own. You can adjust the heat by using milder peppers and by reducing the quantity of seeds.
Watch
Ingredients
1 cup = 237 mL · 1 Tbsp = 15 mL · 1 tsp = 5 mL. All are level measurements.
Method
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Soak the black-eyed peas for six hours or overnight. The peas will double in size.
Using a food processor, pulse the soaked black-eyed peas about six times. Transfer the peas into a very large bowl and fill with water. The skins will float to the top, making it easy to remove them when you drain the water. Repeat this step four or five times until you get rid of most of the skins. To conserve water, re-use the same water again and again.
Alternately, you could buy crushed black-eyed peas if they are available at your local market. Soak them for 3 hours then wash and separate the skins.
Grind together the onion, garlic, tomato, crushed green coriander seeds, and the seeded jalapeno pepper. Green coriander seeds are very aromatic and are a favourite spice. We grow them in our backyard garden and store them in the freezer for use during the winter. You could use ground coriander seeds instead, but toast the seeds and cool them before grinding.
You can use a blender instead of a food processor, but we found that it is hard on the blender and you could easily burn the motor. Otherwise you would have to keep adding water. With a food processor you won’t need to add any water as the soaked beans already have sufficient moisture.
Add the peas and grind again making sure that it does NOT become a smooth paste. The mixture should have a medium texture. Try shaping the bajiya and if it disintegrates then blend it some more until it comes together. Add the turmeric powder and mix using a spoon. Transfer to a bowl.
Using a frying pan, heat vegetable oil on medium high heat. If using a deep fryer, set the temperature to 365°F. Scoop some of the mixture with your fingers and shape it into a two-inch wide patty. Using your thumb, make a hole in the middle of the patty, then carefully drop it into the oil. Repeat.
Serve them hot!
To make the spicy sauce, blend together the ingredients for the dipping sauce. Remember that if you remove the seeds from the jalapeno peppers, you will have a very flavourful sauce without the heat. Enjoy!
Comments
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Assalamu aleikum,
I love your recipe mashallah, I have a question can I use a different type of beans? like beans that do not have the black spot?.
This dish makes me want go to Somalia. How is the situation here in Somalia? I want to travel here.
asc I need to know about the bajiyo so much. .my question is can I mix it with flour. ???
Hi,
I was wondering if you have conversions for cups to grams that i can use for all you recipes?
How much is it for this recipe?
Here is the link to our conversion page xawaash.com/?page_id=7039.
Thank you guys so much..this food blog is amazing. i have learned so much from you. i really appreciated it. 🙂
Thank you very much for your kind comment. It is appreciated.