Urulaikizhangu Bonda/Aloo Bonda

The weather in Amsterdam, on any day is perfect for some hot coffee and fried snack. Though I love all the different varieties of bajjis, bondas and vadais, I hardly prepare them. It has been a really long time since I prepared any snack. And this weekend, I decided to prepare something.

This post is dedicated to a special person, who loves these kind of snacks. Writing this post, brought back lot of fond memories of the times we spent together.

What you’ll need

Serves 4

For the filling

1. Potatoes – 4 big
2. Onion – 1 big
3. Green Chillies - 3 to 4
4. Ginger – a small piece
5. Curry Leaves – few leaves
6. Lemon juice – 1 tsp
7. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Salt to taste

For tempering

1. Oil – 2 tbsp
2. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
3. Bengal Gram Dal/Kadala Paruppu – 1 tsp
4. Urad Dal/Ulutham Paruppu – 1 tsp

For outer Covering

1. Besan/Kadala Maavu – 1 cup
2. Rice Flour – ½ cup
3. Red Chilly Powder – 1 tsp
4. Asafoetida - a generous pinch
5. Baking soda – a pinch
6. Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Pressure cook the potatoes for 3 whistles.
2. Peel and crumble the potatoes roughly. Keep aside.
3. Heat a Kadai with 2 tbsp oil, temper with mustard seeds, once they crackle, add the kadala paruppu and ulutham paruppu and fry till the dals turn golden.
4. Now add the chopped green chillies, grated ginger and curry leaves. Saute for few seconds and then add the finely chopped onions and turmeric powder.
5. Fry till the onions turn translucent. Now add the crumbled potatoes and salt to taste. Mix well.
6. Remove from heat and drizzle the lemon juice. Mix well.
7. Allow to cool, and make small lemon sized balls of the potato mixture and set aside.
8. In the meanwhile, place a kadai with oil for deep frying on heat.
9. Now prepare the batter for the outer covering,
10. In a wide bowl, take the besan and rice flour, add salt, chilly powder, asafoetida powder and baking soda, mix well. Add water little by little and whisk well to make a smooth batter which is not to thick or not too runny. It should be of coating consistency. Check for seasoning and add if required.
11. Now dip the potato balls one at a time in the batter so as to nicely coat the balls and deep fry them in oil. Fry them on medium flame, flipping the bondas once in a while so that they are cooked evenly on all sides. Fry till the bubbles have almost stopped.
12. Drain on a tissue paper.  Repeat with remaining potato balls.

Serve hot with coconut chutney and a hot cup of coffee.