Mysore Bonda

Mysore Bonda are a popular deep fried snack from Karnataka cuisine. They are a tea-time favorite served in tiffin centers, restaurants and street shops. These addictive bite-sized snack are crisp on the outside, with a light and fluffy texture from inside. They are mostly eaten with Coconut chutney but any spicy chutney goes well. In this post I share how to make super crispy Mysore bonda with wheat flour.

About Mysore Bonda

Bonda is a traditional round shaped fried snack from South India. These are basically of 2 kinds – stuffed and non-stuffed. The stuffed kind, have various fillings like spiced potatoes (Aloo Bonda), mixed vegetables or boiled eggs (Egg Bonda). Mysore bonda, Goli Baje and ulundu bonda (urad dal bonda) are plain bonda varieties.

The tiffin shop and restaurant Mysore bonda are always made with all-purpose flour (maida) so they get chewy when they cool down. These wheat flour Mysore Bonda are always a hit in my home and they vanish in no time. They have a nutty flavor and are crispier than the all-purpose flour bondas.

Mysore Bonda are somewhat similar to the Mangalorean goli baje but there traditionally the batter is fermented and beaten for an airy texture. A lot of people confuse Mysore bonda with urad dal bonda and I have even seen serving urad dal bonda as Mysore bonda in Tamil Nadu star restaurants. These are made with Medu Vada batter and they taste similar to medu vada but are round like bonda.

Ingredients

• Flour: You will use whole wheat flour and a little rice flour. While the wheat flour gives them a nutty aroma, rice flour helps to crisp them up further. If you want you can make the same with all-purpose flour (use organic) but you won’t need so much water.
• Curd: Yogurt is the key ingredient and it helps to make the bondas fluffy from inside. It also adds a mild tartness and enhance the flavor. I use homemade yogurt. If you want tart fritters, you can use sour yogurt or Greek yogurt. There is no substitute to this ingredient. But I guess, milk and vinegar may work the same way.
• Baking soda: Soda-bi-carbonate is used for a lighter texture. You won’t taste the soda in the bondas because yogurt activates it and leavens. There is no tried and tested substitute but baking powder may work.
• Onions, ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves/cilantro and cumin seeds are aromatics that infuse flavors to the Mysore bonda. Do not omit them.

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Photo Guide

Step by step Photo Instructions

1. Add 1 cup flour to a mixing bowl. I have used atta, but you can also use maida. Please note that the flavor of atta is prominent in these bondas. We like it so I use atta.

2. Add rice flour and baking soda.

3. Add salt. I added half tsp sea salt.

4. Add cumin seeds, green chili and ginger.

5. Add finely chopped onions or coconut and chopped coriander leaves.

6. Mix them up once. Add curd.

7. Pour water.

8. Make a thick batter. Sprinkle more water or curd as needed.

9. It should have a dropping consistency (not flowing). Keep the batter aside and heat up the oil in a deep pan to fry.

10. To check if the oil is hot enough, drop a small portion (1 tsp) of batter. It should sizzle and steadily rise to the surface and not sink. Regulate the flame to medium high (not low or too high) when the oil is hot enough. Take a portion of the batter to your hand, shape small portions, about 1 tbsp batter each and gently leave it to the hot oil.

11. They will puff up in few seconds. Keep stirring and fry on a medium flame.

12. Mysore bonda takes little longer to fry than other fritters. Fry them until crisp and golden.

13. Remove them to a cooling rack/ steel colander or kitchen papers.

Mysore bonda is best served hot with a chutney. We served with this Onion Tomato Chutney.

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