Bonda Soup

Bonda is a South Indian word for any snack that is round in shape and deep fried. To give an example, the famous Medhu Vada, is actually a “Bonda with a hole”!

The ‘Bonda Soup” is a specialty of Karnataka. I have been told that it is a delicacy of North Karnataka. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Few restaurants in Bangalore have this tasty snack on their menu. I have eaten this in one of the restaurants in Bangalore and found it to be very delicious. The Bonda is actually our “Biscut Aambado” (Konkani word for Medhu Vada) and the soup is our good old “Daali-Thoy”; except that the soup is made a little watery and instead of asafetida, ginger is used.

 

Bonda Soup

Ingredients for Bonda

Udad Dal (split black gram dal)	1 cup
Green chilies (chopped)	2
Curry leaves only (chopped)	3-4 sprigs
Fresh Coconut gratings/pieces	2 tbsps
Asafoetida	½ tsp
Salt	As per taste
Oil	For deep frying
Water (for dipping fingers)	1 small bowl

Method :

Bonda Batter

1. Wash and soak the udad dal for about 3 hours.
2. Then drain the water and grind them to a fine paste preferably without adding any water.  A little water may be added for the mixie to run.
3. Place the ground batter in a bowl. To this add the green chilies, curry leaves, grated/small pieces of fresh coconut, asafetida and salt. Mix well and keep it aside.
4. In a kadai or a deep frying pan, heat oil till it is hot and then lower the flame to medium.
5. First wet your fingers in a bowl of water and take a small quantity of the above prepared mixture and drop them gently in the hot oil.
6. At a time, drop about 6 -7 bondas (depending upon the size of your kadai) in the hot oil.
7. If the batter is ground well, the bondas will float on top within a few seconds. Fry them till they are golden brown in colour.
8.  Then remove them with a slotted spoon.
9. Continue in this manner for the remaining batter.

Ingredients for Soup

Toor Dal	¾ cup
Moong Dal	¼ cup
Green chilies (slit)	2
Ginger (chopped)	½ inch piece
Tomatoes (medium) chopped	2
Lime juice	2tsps
Salt	As per taste
Coriander leaves (chopped)	2 tbsps
Seasoning Ingredients:
Oil	2 tsps
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Dry red chilies	1-2
Curry leaves	1-2 sprigs

Method:

1. Wash the Toor Dal and Moong Dal together and cook them in a pressure cooker for 12 mins.
2. Remove the cooked dals from the cooker and place it in a saucepan and mash well.
3. Add about 2-3 cups of water, slit green chillies, chopped tomatoes, chopped ginger and salt and bring it to a boil. Lower the flame and let it simmer for a few minutes.
4. In a small pan, add oil and then add the seasoning ingredients (mustard seeds and dry red chilies) and when the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the curry leaves. Remove from the flame and immediately pour it over the cooked dal.
5. Mix well and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and lime juice.
6. Serve hot.

Makes: 24 Bondas

Bondas

Close-up of  Bondas

  
Soup

How to serve:

Bond Soup

• While serving, place the bondas and the soup in two separate bowls.
• Just before eating, dunk bonda in the soup.

Note:

• Grind the batter till its smooth and a few bubbles come on top. The crispiness of the bondas is directly proportional to the smoothness and fluffiness of the ground batter.
• For the soup, I added moong dal too. You may omit it if you so desire.