82) BONDA

BONDA

A KERALA DEEP FRIED POTATO SNACK

Ingredients for the filling:

1)    Potatoes – 500 gm.

2)    Onions – 150 gm.

3)    Hot green chilies – 4 Nos.

4)    Tender ginger – 1 inch piece

5)    Tender curry leaves – 2 sprigs

6)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

7)    Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

8)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

9)    Salt – 1 teaspoon

Ingredients for the tempura (jacket):

1)    Maida (refined wheat flour) – 400 gm.

2)    Corn flour – 100 gm.

3)    Salt – 1 teaspoon

4)    Coconut oil or other cooking oil to deep fry

To make the filling:

Wash and put the potatoes in a pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover the potatoes. Set on high heat. As soon as you hear the second whistle, turn down the heat. Cook for 5 minutes. Switch off the stove and allow to cool naturally. When all the steam is gone, take out, peel and mash the potatoes.

Peel the onions and the ginger. Finely chop the onions, the ginger and the green chilies. Set a medium sized wok on the stove. Pour in a tablespoonful of coconut oil. Tip in the mustard seeds. As soon as they are about to finish popping, throw in all the chopped vegetables. Add a teaspoon of salt. Stir frequently. As soon as the onions turn brown, add the mashed potatoes and the turmeric powder and mix well. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Switch off the heat. When cool enough to touch, make bite sized balls of the filling.

To make the tempura batter:

Put the maida, the corn flour, the salt and a glass of water into a food processor and blend nicely. Add a little more water and blend to form a batter of the consistency of thick pancake batter. If the batter is runny, the tempura will not cover the filling properly and the bonda will soak up oil. So thick dippable batter is what we need.

To deep fry:

Set a wok or pan on the stove with enough coconut oil or any other cooking oil to deep fry the bondas. Dip the filling balls one by one in the batter and roll around to form a thick coat of batter all around and ease gently into the hot oil. Do not crowd too many bondas in the wok or pan to prevent them from sticking together.

Roll them around in the oil with a perforated ladle until the batter is fully cooked.  You can check by feeling the stiffness of the tempura with your ladle. Lift out, drain off the excess oil and serve hot. If you are a potato lover, bonda is a must for you!!!

Keralites love to eat bondas and other deep fried snacks at teatimes (at 11 am. and at 4 pm.) in small roadside teashops all over the state. Some of these shops use garam masala powder in the fillings and baking powder in the jackets.

Note:

You can also make bonda using cassava roots in place of potatoes. These cassava bondas give you a nicely different taste. However, you have to peel the cassava before cooking it and remove the bony central fibre before mashing it. To make delicious yam bonda, go to my yam bonda recipe.