Maru Na Bhajias are a very popular Indian Snack/ Appetiser. They are well known to family/friends with a Kenyan background. Here is our family recipe on Kenyan Style Maru Bhajia & Chutney .

The Bhajias are available in many Indian restaurants in the UK. The taste does vary. They are referred to as Bhajiya, Maru Na Bhajias or Crispy potato bhajias or just potato bhajia.They are thin potato slices coated in a spiced batter made with chick peas and plain flour. The partly boiled potatoes are coated with the batter and deep fried. The end result are crispy potato bhajias. In restaurants you may see Aloo Pakora. These are a thicker version of the Maru Na Bhajiyas.

We used to live in Nyeri (town in Kenya) and I always remember on our trip to Nairobi, we would be treated to the bhajias from Slush. It was a popular place for Maru Bhajiya and everyone recognised the blue and red writing shop. They came in takeaway boxes with the most delicious Maru Na Bhajia chutney.

Time went by and the bhajias made appearances at many street food eateries. The original recipe was created by a chef, Maru hence the name. The secret recipe is still unknown. Some say the recipe was sold to the popular Maru’s Bhajia House in Wembley?

With a family of great cooks, we had our recipe and I think it is very close to the original taste. The bhajia and chutney have to be enjoyed together to get that explosion of flavours – it has always been the case for us. The key is to eat them fresh.

They key to having the bhajias without spending hours in the kitchen is being prepared. Make the chutney and batter beforehand and have all the utensils ready.

Maru Bhajiya Chutney Recipe

Ingredients for Maru Bhajia Chutney

• 2 fresh tomatoes 
• 1/4 carrot
• 1/4 cucumber
• 10 stalks of coriander/cilantro
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 4 tbsp Maggie chilli sauce (or any other  ordinary chilli sauce) 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp ground jiru (cumin seeds)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• juice of 1 lemon
• pinch of sugar
• salt 

How to make the Maru Bhajia Chutney

Gently blitz all the ingredients above for the chutney in a food processor. The Maru Na Bhajiya chutney is like a salsa. It should not be smooth in texture. The consistency is great to scoop up some chutney with the bhajiyas.  

Kenyan Style Maru Bhajia Recipe

Ingredients for Maru Na Bhajiya

• 8 potatoes (Less starchy ones)
• 1 cup gram flour 
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 tbsp crushed ginger
• 1 tbsp crushed green/red chillies
• 1 1/2 tsp turmeric (for colour) 
• 1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (depending on taste)
• 1 tsp thana jiru powder 
• 1 tsp ground jiru (cumin)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped coriander
• 1 1/4 cups cold water

Instructions on How to Make the Maru Na Bhajia

1. Make the batter by mixing all the ingredients above (apart from the potatoes and cold water). Gram flour can be lumpy, and I would advice to sieve it.
2. Add in the cold water, a little at a time, to form a mixture that is similar to pancake batter. Not too thick or too runny.
3. Heat a large saucepan with salty water and bring to boil. While the oil is hearing, prepare the potatoes.
4. Peel the potatoes and place in cold water. Use a mandolin to slice the potatoes thinly (thicker than crisps). You can slice them straight back into the water
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5. Boil the sliced potatoes, a few at a time. You need to put each slice individually to avoid them from sticking together. You only need to part boil them (3 min should be fine). Ensure they don’t overcook or else they will start to mush up and you don’t want that.
   
6. Once boiled, take them out using a skimmer and spread the slices out onto a cooling rack. This will cool them down and remove excess water. Try not to overlap them too much.
   
7. Put some batter on the flat tray then add a layer of potatoes. After each layer keep putting the batter to ensure each slice is coated. The batter should stick to the potato slices and give them that slight marinade. Consistency is key. You can tell from the photo below it just coats the potatoes with a thin layer.
   
8. I find it easy to set a process going- boil, cool, coat. Repeat until finished.
9. Heat a pan with oil for deep frying the coated bhajias. A pan with a flatter base is better to ensure even heat. The heat needs to be medium high. 
   
10. Each slice you put in should float right back up. If it does not, it means the temperature of the oil is too low. If the bhajiyas browns too quickly the heat is too high. 
11. Place the slices in, one at a time to ensure they don’t stick to each other. Once you have enough bhajias in the pan, gently stir using a stainless steel drainer/skimmer. Occasionally turn and stir.
    
12. They will take about 3/4 minutes to fry to a golden crisp colour. Use the skimmer to take the bhajias out, ensuring you drain out excess oily before placing them on some kitchen towel.
13. Best enjoyed straight away with a lashing of chutney.

TIPS on How to make the best Crispy Potato Bhajias

Hope you get to make these Kenyan Style Maru Bhajia & Chutney . I am not a fan of deep frying but for these bhajias I don’t mind because they are just soooo scrumptious. PS. I actually think you can eat 3 potatoes easily in bhajia form….they are that good.

Want more traditional Kenya Indian recipes? How about this corn on the cob curry aka Makai Nu Shak?

Neha