London Bangla A Force for the community…
HOW BIG IS an onion bhaji? If you’re British Bangladeshi chef Oli Khan, it’s 175.5kg – and it comes with a new World Record. The previous World Record was previously set in 2011, at an underwhelming 102kg.
It’s not easy to knock up 175.7kg of onion bhaji. You need an awful lot of onions, a massive mound of bhaji – and 500 litres of oil for the frying of it. Fortunately, Khan was cooking in partnership with JustEat and Surma, the Bangladeshi takeaway – so he didn’t have to bring his shopping home from Sainsbury’s all by himself.
The new World Record was announced at the London Muslim Centre by Guiness World Records Adjudicator Pauline Sapinska. This is the third World record to be generated at the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre. Previous record were for the largest samosa in the world and the largest number of children reading with an adult.
Chef Khan said, “I am passionate about this project, I have been working on it behind the scenes for five years. I do it for charity. Last year I did it for Great Ormond street hospital; this time I am doing it for the London Muslim Centre trust and the homeless. This bhaji will be given to the Salvation Army and Booth House, alongside other places in east London. This isn’t just a win for us, it’s a win for our nation, Great Britain, which we are proud to represent!” Chef Khan went on to thank Surma for their support and assistance.
Chef Khan achieved the record on Tuesday, 4th February. It was his second attempt to achieve the World Record: an earlier attempt had to be called off as the bhaji was too heavy. Chef Khan was supervised by inspectors from the Council and the private sector, who ensured he followed health and safety guidelines, and by a surveyor, who weighed the finished product.
Congratulations to Chef Khan. We don’t mean to be greedy, but we have one reservation. We have to ask: don’t we usually get two bhajis in a portion, chef?
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