Aloo Bonda also referred to as Potato Bonda is tasty fried snack from the South Indian cuisine. It is made with spiced mashed potatoes, that is formed into a ball, covered in a gram flour (besan) & rice flour batter and deep-fried to perfection. This popular snack is also a street food.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup besan ((gram flour) swap with chickpea flour instead)
  • ¼ cup Rice Flour
  • ⅓ to ½ cup water (or add as required)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 1 pinch baking soda ((optional))
  • salt (according to taste)
  • 4 to 5 potatoes (- medium-sized, boiled and mashed)
  • ⅓ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • 1 or 2 green chilies, (finely chopped or 1 to 1.5 teaspoon)
  • 12 to 15 curry leaves
  • 2 tablespoon coriander leaves (- chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ⅓ to ½ teaspoon lemon juice (or as required, optional)
  • 1 or 1.5 teaspoon urad dal ((spilt and husked black gram))
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoon oil
  • salt (according to taste)
  • oil (for deep frying, as required)

Method

Making Potato Stuffing

  1. First boil the potatoes in a pan or steamer or a stovetop pressure cooker adding water as needed. Later peel and mash them when still warm.
  2. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal.
  3. Let the mustard seeds splutter and the urad dal become golden in color.
  4. Next add the finely chopped onions and sauté until they are translucent and softened.
  5. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves and green chilies. Saute for a minute.
  6. Add the turmeric powder, asafoetida and stir to mix. Next add the coriander leaves and stir again.
  7. Add the mashed potatoes to this mixture or add this sautéed mixture to the potatoes. Stir to combine thoroughly.
  8. If there is moisture, then you can sauté the potato stuffing mixture for a few minutes in a pan.
  9. Add lemon juice & salt. Mix well.
  10. Check the seasonings and add more salt or lemon juice if required.
  11. Make medium sized balls from this mixture. You can slightly flatten them if you prefer.

Making Batter

  1. In a mixing bowl take the gram flour, rice flour, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, asafoetida, salt and baking soda.
  2. Add water as needed. Mix with a small wired whisk to create a thick flowing batter without lumps.

Frying Aloo Bonda

  1. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. Keep the heat to medium.
  2. Dip each potato ball in the batter and coat it well with the batter.
  3. Gently and carefully place the batter coated potato balls in the medium hot oil.
  4. Fry until golden on both sides. Drain them on paper towels to remove excess oil. Continue to fry the remaining potato bonda in batches.
  5. Serve Aloo Bonda hot or warm with coconut chutney or green coriander chutney or mint chutney.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.