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Mysore bonda is a spongy deep fried snack prepared with urad dal and is served with coconut chutney
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Mysore Bonda ~ Split Black Lentil Balls

Mysore bonda are crispy, spongy, deep fried urad dal round fritters served with coocnut chutney.
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine Indian, Mysore, South Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Soaking Time 4 hours
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 20 pieces
Calories

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Urad Dal
  • ½ cup Water for grinding the dal and use more if required
  • 6 - 8 small Green Chilies, adjust to taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
  • 1 ½ - 2 teaspoon chopped Ginger or or 1” Ginger chopped
  • 10 Curry Leaves chopped
  • ⅓ - ½ cup chopped Cilantro loosely packed
  • ¼ - ⅓ cup thinly sliced Coconut I used frozen sliced coconut and slice it to ¼”pieces
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds crushed (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon Black Peppercorns crushed
  • 2 - 3 teaspoon Rice Flour, can use upto 2 tablespoon of flour for a very crunchy bonda. Check notes below
  • Oil for deep frying

Instructions

  • Wash urad dal and soak for at least 3-4 hours. 1 ½ - 2 hours might also work but I always soak at least 3-4 hours.
  • Discard water and wash dal again. Put in a strainer or a colander to drain  water.
  • Grind urad dal, green chilies and salt to a almost smooth paste/batter, using about ½ cup water.  The batter should be thick, just like medhu vada batter.
  • Transfer the batter to a wide bowl, add rest of the ingredients except oil. Mix to combine all the ingredients evenly and also to aerate the batter.
  • Drop a pinch of batter in water to test the consistency of the batter.  
  • If batter floats, the batter is of the right consistency and if it sinks to the bottom of the bowl, the batter is too thick. Add some water.
  • Heat oil in a wok or a wide pan for deep frying the bonda.
  • When oil is hot, reduce the flame to medium.
  • Wet hands and take about gooseberry sized batter and shape into a round ball. Gradually drop into oil. 
  • Depending on the size of the wok, fry 5 - 6 bonda per batch.
  • Fry bonda, turning them around until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels.
  • Repeat the above steps to fry  rest of the bonda. I did it in 4 batches.
  • Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Notes

  • To get spongy bonda, the batter should not be very thick nor very thin. It should be of medu vada consistency. A thick batter will result in a hard bond. Add some water to thin the batter.
  • Careful when adding water, as a thin batter will make it difficult to shape the bonda. In such scenario, add some rice flour to thicken the batter.
  • Batter Test - Drop a tiny ball of batter in a bowl of water. If the batter floats to the top, then it is the right consistency.
  • If the batter sinks to the bottom, the batter is too thick and add a tablespoon of water, mix and repeat the test.
  • Rice Flour - For a very crispy outer bonda use 2 tablespoon of rice flour but make sure batter is not very thick. Else will result in a hard bonda.