UZHALAKAZHANGA BONDA

Dish of the Day- Uzhalakazhanga Bonda
Place- Tamilnadu

Bonda is a slightly tweaked South Indian version of something that we all know as Batata Vada. This is the best tea- time snack and the highlight of a Bonda is it's crisp, crunchy outer covering contrasting with the soft, mashed potatoes and pungent chillies filled inside.

Bonda is the name for anything that is fried in such a manner with this particular batter. Uzhalakazhanga is Tamil for potato and the Bonda can have any filling depending on what you want. The name will change accordingly. I personally prefer Bonda as a salty snack but there are other sweet variants as well.

Bonda's signature companion is some spicy kothmir chutney. Even tomato ketchup does a good job of complimenting its flavours.:) Bonda is my comfort food- no wonder then that an entire post has been dedicated to it..;)

This is my maternal grandmother's signature dish. 'No One Can eat Just One' definitely applies to her Bondas. When we go to her place in Thane, my sister and I end up having a 'Who gets more Bondas' competition.

There's a saying that goes something like- 'Eat too many bondas, you'll starting looking like one'. This is uncannily true for this calorie- laden potato snack.

How to Cook it Up:-

Potatoes............................................3
Onion, chopped finely.....................1/2
Cumin seeds......................................1/2 tsp
Green Chillies, finely chopped......2
Curry leaves.....................................2-3
Ginger Paste.....................................1 tsp
Chickpea flour..................................1 cup
Chilli powder.....................................1 tsp
Rice flour...........................................1 tbsp
Asafoetida/Hing..............................1/4 tsp
Water
Oil

Directions:-

1) Boil the potatoes and peel them off. Then mash them before they get cold, but not uniformly.
2) In a pan, add some oil and the curry leaves, ginger paste, green chillies, cumin seeds, onion, and finally the mashed potatoes. Saute them well and then turn off the heat. Keep this mixture aside. This is the filling.
3) Mix the chickpea flour, rice flour, chilli powder and asafoetida to make a thick paste with sufficient amount of water. Add salt to taste.
4) Heat oil in a wok for deep frying the Bondas.
5) Make small balls out of the potato mixture. Dip each ball into the chickpea batter and  cover it completely. Then slowly drop it into the wok and toss it until all sides acquire a lovely golden- brown colour.
6) Serve hot with green chutney or ketchup.

* My grandmother doesn't add onions and that turns out very well too. You could try both and decide which one you like better..:)