Kara Boondi

After a series of sweets, a savoury to devour -kara boondi. Boondi is the base for Laddoo. Add spice to the boondi (this and a few more changes), we get kara boondi. As simple as that. Yes, I say simple, but it took me soooo many years to give it a try. I made this for the first time this year, for Diwali series. And I am glad it turned out so good. This time again, I had the ever smiling and sweet hearted Vijayalakshmi Amma to guide me. We first started making laddoos, and seeing how simple making boondi is, also gave kara boondi a try (now you know that laddoo is also in the line 😉 ). I have used a slightly different perforated spoon for making the boondis (see pic below). If you do not have the same, you can also make it using the flat perforated spoon, which we normally have at home. Even I didn’t have the special one. Thanks to Vijayalakshmi who lent hers. The steps and notes given may seem very long and time consuming, but trust me, they are not. I could easily finish writing the recipe in four easy lines, but the steps and tricks given are only to ensure that you can make the perfect kara boondis in no time.

Kara boondis are tiny, cute and crispy balls, fried till crunchy and mixed with spice. We add a little bit of hot ghee to chili powder and salt and use this spice mixture to add taste to the boondis, along with the ghee fried curry leaves and cashews. The ghee adds a tempting aroma to the dish and pulls you towards it. This boondi can also be used to make mixture. Try this kara boondi this Diwali and add spice to your celebrations!

Preparation time: 10 minutes| Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes
Course: snacks| Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients:

Gram flour (kadalai maavu) - 1 cup

Rice flour- ¼ cup

Salt- as neded

Cooking soda- a pinch

Chili powder- a tsp

Ghee- 1 ½ tsp

Cashews- 7 to 8 (broken)

Curry leaves- 2 sprig

Oil- for deep frying

Method:

1.      Sieve gram flour and rice flour together. This helps to remove lumps, if any, and also helps in mixing the flours evenly.

2.      Add a pinch of cooking soda and half of the required salt. Add water gradually and make batter. The batter should be of dosa batter consistency. Do check notes section for tips to check the consistency of the batter.

3.      Heat oil in a large kadai. We need two slotted/ perforated spoons to make bhoondi. Pictures of those spoons are shown in step wise pictures below. Please do check. One spoon is to make the boondi and the other is to remove it from oil.

4.      Make sure the oil is hot while making boondi.

5.      Hold one of the perforated spoon on top of the oil and pour the batter on it. Use the back of a ladle to gently press the batter in circular motion. (Refer pic below). Let the boondis fall into the oil. After the boondis are made, wipe the excess batter off the perforated spoon, everytime.

6.      Fry till it the oil sound subsidises, to get crispy boondis. Stir now and then to ensure even cooking. Remove the boondis from oil using the other perforated spoon. Drain it on a collander or kitchen towel.

7.      Repeat this for the rest of the batter.

8.      In a small cup take a tsp of chili powder and salt (do remember that we have added only half of the required salt, while making batter. The other half is added now). Mix ¾ th spoon of hot ghee to it. Mix well. Add this mixture to the fried boondis. This is to add spice to the boondis.

9.      Fry curry leaves and cashews in ¾ spoon of ghee and add it to bhoondis. Mix everything together. Kara boondi is ready to be devoured.

 Notes:

·        To check for the proper consistency of the batter do the following test. Take a spoon and dip the back of the spoon into the batter. Hold it on top of the preheated oil. If it drops as perfect rounds then the batter is perfect. 

·        If the batter is too thick, you will get boondis with tail. Then you may have to add a little more water to the batter. If the batter is too watery then the boondis formed will be very light and thin. Add a little more flour to the batter to make it slightly thick. 

·        If you do not have the traditional perforated spoon for making boondi at home, you can also use the flat ones we normally have at home.   

·        Avoid adding chili powder in the batter. It will give you too much of reddish coloured boondis. So add it as mentioned in the method section. You can add crushed pepper powder for spice instead of chili powder. You can also add roasted groundnuts to the kara boondi.

Step by step pictures

 sieve gram flour and rice flour together

 add half of required salt and a

pinch of cooking soda to the flour

 mix water gradually and make batter 

of dosa batter consistency

 heat oil in a kadai

 these are the perforated spoons used

the first one is to make the boondi

second one is to collect it from oil.

if you don't have the curved first spoon,

use the normal one available at home.

 hold the spoon over the oil and 

pour the batter on the spoon

 use the back of a laddle in circular motion

let the boondi fal into oil

 stir in between to ensure even cooking

cook till oil subsides and boondis 

are crispy enough 

 crispy boondi ready

 drain in a collander or kitchen towel

 mix chili powder, remaining required salt

along with hot ghee

add the chili mixture to the fried boondis

add cashews and curry leaves fried in ghee

mix everything together.

kara boondi is ready.