Vegetable Bonda with Coriander Chutney

 (I know the picture is not good nor presentable. But with 3 hungry mouths waiting to dig in, it was pretty hard for them to be patient while I kept clicking away...:D)

Summer vacations have finally begun and I had been waiting like crazy for this moment. The German classes were finally getting to me(seriously) and I must admit that my multi tasking skills at home were being put to the test!! Unlike India where there is excitement and frenzy in the air and a certain kind of thrill to schools closing for the summer vacation, over here there is absolute no feel at all. Maybe due to the fact that the kids have no annual examination of any sort(they are assessed the whole year through in the form of surprise tests). The last academic year 2010, I was pretty shocked with the whole concept and in fact missed the drama we parents encounter back home in India. From the morning madness to the revision of chapters on our drive to school, on return going through the question papers back at home and finally the day the report cards would be issued....:D  Sigh, I still miss all this. 

Anyway, just like me, hubby too was waiting for me to be at home and don the role of Hausfrau(house wife) for a month..:D His only wish though was for me to prepare bobo everyday for tea( Can anybody please tell me where on earth did this word originate from??) And by Bobo he definitely meant his typical favorite Mangalorean snacks or savories like vorn, ambade, mani and so on.. I also knew the two blogs I would be referring to the maximum this month...:) Ruchik Randhap and Food, Football and a baby. Both Shireen's and Michelle's blog are the kind which take me through flashbacks and help me reminisce over all my favorite food from our home town Mangalore. There are days when just their pictures of food make me miss my homeland like crazy. 

So over to today's bobo, Vegetable Bondas from Michelle's space. To know more about this savory snack head on over to Michelle's blog. The hot spicy bondas taste best on a cold rainy day, though I didn't wait for any showers as we are already experiencing a very cold summer( or early winter??). I have tweaked the recipe slightly to suit our palette.

Ingredients for the vegetable filling:

2 medium potatoes peeled and chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

half a cup of green peas

2 green chillies finely minced(can add more or less depending on your tolerance level to spice)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 inch ginger minced

1 sprig curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp hot chill powder or to taste

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tbsp oil

a few sprigs coriander leaves chopped fine

salt to taste

For the batter:

2 cups chickpea/gram flour

1/2 tsp chilli powder or to taste

1/2 tap garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Enough water to make a thick batter

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Boil the vegetables with salt until soft. Drain well and mash coarsely.
2. In a small pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the curry leaves, finely chopped green chillies, ginger, garlic, chill and garam masala powder. Saute for around 20 seconds and then pour this into the mashed vegetable mixture.
3. Stir in the chopped coriander and mix well. Check seasoning and add more salt if you feel the mash needs it.
4. Shape the filling into small balls and place them in the fridge to firm them up a bit.
5. In another bowl, stir together the gram flour, chilli, garam masala powder and salt. Add water little by little, stirring continuously until a thick batter is formed. The batter should be thick. If too runny add a little more flour. When done, keep aside.
6. Heat oil for deep frying. Take out the vegetable balls. Dip them into the batter so they are covered thoroughly with the batter. When the oil is very hot, carefully drop the balls into the hot oil. Fry the bondas till they are a light golden color. Carefully lift out of the oil and drain on kitchen paper.
7. Serve hot with ketchup, mint/coriander or coconut chutney along with a cup of hot Indian chai..:)

Blend together half a bunch of fresh coriander leaves, 1/2 inch piece of ginger, 1 garlic clove, 1 green chilli, 1/2 tsp jeera powder and a little bit of tamarind along with very little water to make a quick coriander chutney!!

Goli Baje.

I had seen this coming. Sonny declared with exasperation that he was done with the baking and eating cakes. He wanted something theek(spicy in konkani). That's the only konkani word he knows..:D And by theek, he meant all the Indian snacks that his brain could think of. Chakuli, sonte, kaara kaddi.....the list goes on. Not that I would prepare all of this back home. These are goodies which are freely available at any store. Also, a variety of snacks are available in many hotels, so there was indeed no need to break your head over preparation. 

Sonny's desire got me thinking. It is true that now being well versed with baking, I think I must have gone overboard. But to me, it is simple to bake a cake, healthier, and easier to pack it as a snack(in the muffin form). So, when Michelle's blog popped up with the goli baje post and the drooly pictures, I thought I would surprise my family for a change.

So, on the decided day, I informed hubby of what I was upto in the kitchen and informed him to come home early. It tastes heavenly to pop in the goli bajes into your mouth when piping hot than when it is stone cold(which is what the food turns to pretty soon in Deutschland). In between frying and constant calls to hubby dearest to get home as soon as possible, the goli baje's turned out to be such a hit that I had content children going to bed without any dinner, cause they had stuffed themselves with so many of these fried balls. Not to forget the glee on hubby's face too when served with these the kudla way!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain flour(maida)
• 1/4 cup besan flour(chickpea)
• 1/2 cup plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp sugar,
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 green chilly finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
• enough oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Sift the flour, besan, baking soda, salt and sugar.
2. Add the yoghurt, mixing well.
3. Now slowly whisk in the water, a little at a time, until the batter just heavily slides off a spoon.
4. Stir in the ginger, chilly and coriander leaves.
5. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes to 6 hours( mine sat for 7).
6. Heat enough oil for deep frying in a pan. The oil should be hot enough so that when batter is dropped in, it should quickly rise to the surface.
7. Drop in spoonfuls of batter, not too many at a time. Lower the heat as you do this.
8. Deep fry for seven to eight minutes until they are a light golden brown in color.
9. Use a slotted spoon to remove them gently from the pan and drain them on an absorbent kitchen paper.
10. Repeat until batter is used up.
11. Serve hot with a chutney(I didn't have the ingredients to whip up one) or ketchup along with a cup of hot tea!!!

A great snack to wipe away not only the winter blues also homesickness!!!!