Aloo Bonda | Batata Vada
Aloo Bonda is an Indian snack that features a spiced potato filling encased in a gram flour batter and deep-fried to golden perfection.
Ingredients
For the Potato Filling
- 4-5 Potatoes medium sized
- 2 tsp Cooking oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 tbsp Ginger + Green Chilli paste
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
For the Batter
- 1 cup Besan Flour 150-180g
- 1 tbsp Rice flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 250 ml Cooking oil for deep frying
Instructions
Potato Filling for the Aloo Bonda
- Wash and pressure cook 4-5 potatoes for 3 whistles or on a low flame for five minutes. Turn off the flame and allow the pressure to come down naturally.
- Remove the potatoes from the pressure cooked and allow it to come to room temperature. Peel the skin, mash all the cooked potatoes and keep aside.
- Place a pan on medium heat, and two teaspoons for cooking oil and allow it to warm up.
- Add the mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Add the curry leaves and green chilli-ginger paste. Cook it on a low flame for 20 seconds.
- Add the mashed potatoes, along with turmeric powder and salt. Mix all the ingredients well and turn off the flame.
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and a drizzle of lemon juice. Allow it to come to room temperature. You can then roll the Aloo Bonda potato mixture into equal sized balls and keep them ready for deep frying
Making the batter
- To a bowl, add 1 cup of besan flour, 1 tbsp of rice flour, salt and turmeric powder. Mix all the ingredients well.
- Add water little by little until the batter reaches a consistency of that of dosa batter. The batter is now ready.
Deep frying the Aloo Bondas
- Place a kadai on low-medium flame and allow it to warm up. To test if the oil is sufficiently hot for deep frying, add a drop of the batter to the oil. If the piece of batter rises up immediately, then it means that the oil is hot. (Take a teaspoon of this hot oil and mix it with the batter, this helps in crisping up the vadas on the outside.)
- Take the rolled aloo bonda mixture and dip it in the batter. Make sure to coat all the sides of the aloo ball. You may even use a spoon to coat and lift the bonda and drop it into the oil.
- Add 4-5 aloo bondas depending on the size of the kadai. They should have enough space to move around in the oil.
- Take the back of the slotted ladle and rotate it over the Aloo bonda so that all sides of the bonda get cooked. This action will also help in the bonda keeping its spherical shape.
- The Aloo Bondas are ready when all the sides are golden. Remove them with the help of a slotted spoon and drain it on a kitchen tissue paper.
- Serve Aloo Bondas with a Tamarind Chutney or as it is!