Crispy, spiced bhajis packed with wild mushrooms, nettles, dandelion and aromatic hedgerow herbs.

These crispy Wild Mushroom & Hedgerow Bhajis are a brilliant way to bring a handful of wild ingredients together into something comforting, delicious and incredibly easy to make.

Cheryl combines earthy mushrooms with young nettle tops, dandelion leaves and fresh wild marjoram, with crushed wild carrot seeds adding a beautifully aromatic, warming spice.

Gram flour creates a naturally gluten-free batter that fries until golden and crisp around the edges while keeping all those mushrooms, vegetables and wild greens held together inside.

Cheryl used a mixture of chestnut mushrooms and foraged bay boletes, but this recipe is wonderfully adaptable. You can use whatever edible mushrooms you have available, whether they’re gathered from the wild or bought from the shops.

Wild Mushroom & Hedgerow Bhajis

Vegan | Gluten-Free

Ingredients

● 180g gram flour (chickpea flour)

● 15g wild carrot seeds, crushed (approximately 2 tbsp)

● 10g fresh wild marjoram, finely chopped (approximately 2 tbsp)

● 5 dandelion leaves, finely shredded

● 8 young nettle tops, finely chopped

● 75g red cabbage, finely shredded

● 1 red onion, finely sliced

● 150g mushrooms, sliced

● Approximately 180–220ml water

● Salt, to taste

● Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

● Oil, for shallow frying

Mushrooms: Cheryl used a mixture of chestnut mushrooms and bay boletes, but you can use any edible mushrooms you like, wild or cultivated.

No wild carrot seeds? Substitute them with caraway seeds for a similar warm, aromatic flavour.

Method

1. Cook the mushrooms first. Add the sliced mushrooms to a frying pan and cook until nicely browned and most of their moisture has evaporated. Set aside and allow them to cool slightly.

2. Add the gram flour, crushed wild carrot seeds, chopped wild marjoram, salt and black pepper to a large mixing bowl.

3. Gradually pour in the water, mixing as you go, until you have a thick batter. Add the water little by little – depending on your flour and ingredients, you may not need the full amount.

4. Add the cooked mushrooms, finely chopped raw nettle tops, shredded dandelion leaves, red cabbage and sliced red onion.

5. Mix everything thoroughly. You want all the vegetables, mushrooms and wild greens to be generously coated with just enough batter to hold the mixture together.

6. Heat a shallow layer of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.

7. Add generous spoonfuls of the bhaji mixture to the hot oil, gently flattening each one with the back of the spoon.

8. Fry until deep golden, crisp and cooked right through, turning to cook both sides evenly.

9. Transfer to kitchen paper or a rack to drain briefly before serving hot and crispy.

The nettles are added raw to the mixture but cook thoroughly during frying, removing their sting.

Vegan & Gluten-Free

These wild bhajis are naturally vegan and gluten-free, using gram flour rather than wheat flour and requiring no eggs to bind them.

They’re also incredibly adaptable. Try changing the mushrooms and wild greens as the seasons change, using the recipe as a base for whatever edible abundance is available.

Foraging Safety

Only gather and eat wild plants or fungi that you can positively identify as edible.

Take particular care with wild carrot. Members of the carrot family (Apiaceae) include dangerously poisonous species. Never consume a plant from this family unless you are completely confident in its identification.

Wild mushrooms should also only be eaten following positive identification. If you’re unsure of the identity of any wild ingredient, leave it out and use a cultivated or shop-bought alternative instead.