Aloo Bonda

Aloo Bonda is prepared by deep frying spicy potato filling dipped in besan (gram flour) batter.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound potatoes
• 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 3-4 green chilies finely chopped
• 2 tbsp cilantro leaves finely chopped
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp chat masala or amchur
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp lime/lemon juice
• 2 tbsp roasted crushed groundnut
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Batter:

• 2 cups besan (gram flour)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Boil and skin potatoes. Mash and mix all ingredients except oil.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add potato mix in it and fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Shape into small balls or patty like flatter discs. Keep aside.
• Now in a separate pan mix besan, baking powder, salt and enough water to prepare batter of thick dropping consistency.
• Heat oil in a kadhai or deep frying pan, on medium flame. Dip potato balls or patties in batter and deep fry until golden brown.
• Serve hot with tamarind chutney or tomato chutney or cilantro chutney.

Do You Know?
Bonda is a typical South Indian snack. Keralites prefer Sweet Bonda while the savory version of Bonda is common in the rest of India.
The Sweet Bonda is prepared with chana dal and jaggery while spicy or Savory Bonda is prepared by deep frying potato (or other vegetables) filling dipped in besan (gram flour) batter.
The spicy flatter version is called as Batata Vada in Maharashtra.
Some regional variants in Kerala replace the potato with tapioca (Tapioca Bonda) or sweet potato and some add onion, hardboiled egg, masala (Mutta Bonda), minced meat and other ingredients.