Hold on a sec while we send share the page...
Low Calorie Aloo Bonda (Potato fritters)
By
DK
on Jul 26, 2010
The Husband who used to scowl at eating snacks of any kind (except the super healthy types), has started "demanding" for evening snacks when he gets home from work in the recent months. And not any snacks - he needs the "fresh from the oven", "fried yet low calorie", "interesting stuff" etc etc. What intrigues me and leaves me flabbergasted is his request for "low calorie", "low fat" version of totally fried goodies and he demands that I make sure they dont taste like they are tinkered with! One of his recent demands was Bonda - all fried and crisp on the outside and soft inside - but low fat!
Bonda is a fried Potato fritter very famous in Indian cuisine. Its enjoyed as a snack more often where potatoes are boiled, mashed and cooked with onions and spices, coated with a batter made with besan (Indian chickpea flour) + rice flour and deep fried. With this as the base, the number of spices and additional ingredients vary from region to region. In the North its known as Batata Vada , which I already posted like ages ago. This is a South Indian version of the same. Its immensely simple and works great as an appetizer/snack.
I have tried baking but you could figure it out that it was a shadow of the original. So, I was left with little option than to bring out my next best thing to baking. Yes - Pancake puff pan. Its not much of a compromise trust me. The texture is perfect - the outside is all crispy and the inside is filled with soft potato goodness! What's not to like about that, tell me? Try this out to enjoy the Potato goodness without worrying about your weighing scale. And, needless to say, Kids will love you for welcoming them with hot bondas when they get home from school.
Basic Information
Prep Time: 30 min to 1 hour
Cook Time: Under 15 min
Serves: 3 people
Yield: Makes about 10-12 small bondas
Ingredients
- 1 large (or 2 medium) Potatoes, about 250 gms
- 1 small onion,chopped v finely
- 1/4 cup frozen peas
- 1-2 green chillies, thinly sliced (or as per taste)
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp split black lentils (urad dal)
- 1 pinch of turmeric
- a pinch of asafoetida
- few sprigs of curry leaves and cilantro
- little salt to taste
- For the batter
- about 2 tbsp channa flour (Besan/Indian chickpea flour)
- 1 heaped tbsp rice flour
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder, or as per taste
- little salt to taste (be careful that the filling also has salt)
Method
1
Unless its for soup, I have become a slave to steaming. I steam all my vegetables always for whatever dish I make (if you have been following my blog, you would have known that already). You can of course alternatively boil the potatoes
2
Mash them and set aside. You can remove the skin but I keep them.
3
In a skillet, meanwhile in 1 tsp of oil, temper the mustard seeds. When they start popping, add the lentils. Once browned add the onions, turmeric, chillies, curry leaves and saute them with little salt.
4
Add the potatoes, peas and cilantro.
5
Saute them for 1-2 minutes until it all comes together.
6
Take this filling (you can do a taste test and add more seasoning you like). Form into small balls. Keep it smaller than traditional bondas since the pancake puff pan is small. depending on the size you need add more/less of 1 tsp oil.
7
Alternatively prepare the batter. Add all the ingredients for the batter in a bowl.
8
Add few tbsp of water to the mixture until it forms a thick batter. Not too thick nor thin. It should be thick to coat the potato dumplings.
9
Drop the potato balls into the batter to coat.
10
Add 1 tsp 1/4 tsp of oil on all the holes of the pancake puff pan. [Update 28th Feb 2012] I made these recently once again and realized I used only 1/4 tsp of oil for each bonda. You can use a max of 1/2 tsp. depending on the size of the bonda. The original 1 tsp. of oil written for this recipe is too much. Sorry for the mistake. Once the oil is hot, drop the potato dumplings coated with the batter mixture into the holes.
11
Let it cook and once you see the bottom browning, keep turning on all the sides until its cooked all over and browned well.
12
For the next batch repeat. Add oil, let it become hot and then add the prepared potatoes. Drop them on a paper towel.
Serve hot with a favorite condiment. Traditionally these are enjoyed with coconut chutney in my house. This all I had left in 10 minutes of serving! 1 and a half piece (half??!!)
9 members have made this recipe!
Did you make this recipe?
Please click below to share your experiences while you were making this recipe. Thanks for your input!
59 Responses to “Low Calorie Aloo Bonda (Potato fritters)”
Leave a Reply
I love to hear from you! I read each and every comment, and will get back as soon as I am able to.
Filed Under
Related Recipes
Ingredients
Recent Posts
-
Paneer Paratha
-
How to make Yogurt at home using Raw Milk
-
Pan Con Tomate (Spanish Tomato on Toast)
-
Cabbage Ulundu Vadai (Cabbage Dal Fritters)
-
Southwest Quinoa Salad
-
Hushpuppy (Cornbread Fritters)
-
Methi Dal (Fenugreek Leaves Dal)
-
Coriander (Cilantro) Peanut Chutney
-
Chow Chow (Chayote Squash) Curry
-
Methi Roti (Fenugreek Flatbread)
- Never miss a single recipe!
Have a favorite recipe?
- Know a family recipe your mom used to make? Or maybe a go to recipe that works everytime? Share it with your fellow foodies!
Just made a batch of 40 using two ebelskiver pans going at once…perfect gluten free / dairy free superbowl fare! Thanks!
Hey!! Is your a cast iron puff pan or non-stick..I would want to go get one. Please advice. Thanks!
Mine is Cast iron
–DK
hi d.k. they are looking so nice and mouth watering toooo. but i had a small doubt please clarify it . instead of using pancake can i deep fry them ? bcoz all of us ( your followers )
will not have the pan cake right ! so , can we deep fry it ?
sounds like a great recipe.. do you think i could make n half fry them then freeze them for my hubby because i’ll be away for a month or so n want to leave him quick fix snacks and meals..
Hello
Made this last week and it was a super hit. My husband is not fond of potatoes but he enjoyed this! and so did I. I am going to try the sweet appam in this next!
wow…didnt know i could make this in appam pan …love to try this.
Excellent South Indian Urulai Kizhangu Bonda. Your explanation and writing is as wonderful as your recipe. Keep up the good work. Cheers
very nice recipe……….. I just love cooking and was surfing to get some good snacks item and i came thru this website………Good job Done very nicely explained…………..
Can I skip rice flour in batter? Is it essential?
Is the pan same as the appam pan we get in india. Will there beany difference in taste
hi very good tasty very nice
Thanks for the low calorie idea dk wow wow recipe Thankyou very much
Absolutely fabulous, tried and tasted them! Thanks for an awesome bonda recipe!
thank u
will the taste be same as fried aloo bonda. just curious to know.for what other purpose the pancake puff pan can be used
Absolutely love the idea! I am going to try it today. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi!
This is a very good idea! A must try recipe!
Very nice idea indeed!! Low calorie bonda !!!
can these potato puffs be made ahead earlier in the day, and reheated in the oven
I havent done that personally. But I have made the filling in advance and shaped into rolls. I refrigerated those and the next day I just whipped up the flour mixture and made them in the pan
This is good idea.. I was curious what the pancake puff pan is. I dont know if you are familar with appa karal (used for neyyappam by Tamil Iyers, also called unniappam in Kerala). It is a thick pan with 7 holes like this. It takes a .5 to 1 tsp of oil per hole. Also comes with non-stick coating these days.
Very nice … very helpful recipe
thank you very much
Thanks for the low calorie idea DK. I used the ebelskiver to make bondas instead of frying it in oil. And guess what it came out perfectly
hi dk i stay in calcutta can u plz tell me if i can find this pancake maker her or anywhere in india or any website where i can order would like to buy thanks
You can post this query at Chefinyou Facebook page – There are quite a few readers from calcutta and if they know they will be able to help u out with shop names – http://www.facebook.com/ChefInYou. Also I am not sure if Amazon delivers to India but if it does you can buy this through their estore – http://www.amazon.com/Pancake-Puffs-Cast-Iron-Set/dp/B00114LC06
do we need to soak the urad dal overnite or directly use it?
I would have mentioned it if that was the case.:) No u dont need to
I made this for iftar. Turned out really yummy! very light too coz of less oil. Thanks for sharing. Wasn’t able to take any pictures. The whole lot finished in seconds!!