Thursday, February 19, 2009

Sweet Bonda



This is not a common sweet, but a unique dish from south TamilNadu's tea stalls.I had this sweet in my childhood days in Tirunelveli. People in that area have it with tea just like a cake, because of its lesser sweet nature.
Almost all the tea stalls / coffee shops in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin sell this sweet Bonda. They call it as 'cake ' as well as 'Muttai kose'. Muttai kose means cabbage in English. This sweet bonda resembles the shape of a cabbage and hence the name. (You can see some spiky layers around it after frying... My bonda did'nt give any outer layers.)
 One of my blogger friends asked for the recipe. My mom and her friends used to do it as a evening snack at home and I can recall the flavorful recipe now. I am posting it so that everyone may find it interesting.
Here is the recipe for Sweet Bonda.

Ingredients
All purpose flour (maida) - 2 cup
sugar- 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
water - just enough to knead the dough
Oil - for deep frying

Method:
Sieve AP flour with salt and baking soda twice.
(Always use newer baking soda).
Mix sugar to it mix very well in a dry state.
Then add water little by little and mix well.
The dough should not be too thick, it can be of consistency between ulunthu (urid dhal) vadai batter and chapathi dough. Cover it with wet towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Make big balls (in the size of a big lemon / small orange) with wet hands. Drop the balls into hot oil and fry them in medium heat till the outside becomes brown.
Sweet bonda is ready!
Serve with hot tea .

31 comments:

Malar Gandhi said...

Bonda looks perfect...yeah, its a street food in my area too! Though not a fancy sweet, but recalls the fun moment...stopping the vehicle at lollu shop and to have it! They make it with jaggery and maida at north Tamil Nadu.

Cham said...

Glad to know each part has an unique dish to relish. The bonda is very different one!

Chutneytales said...

Your write up for this bonda itslef make me drool..I wana grab the bonda now and have it with tea..

Unknown said...

nice recipe..must have tasted so good..

Jaishree Iyer said...

This is an unique dish. as Iam from tirnelveli I never tastedthisbonda:( will try this at home.

Preety said...

such an easy sweet recipe..love anything sweet..looks perfect

Molly said...

Oh Viki,

I can hug you for this!

The best part of this recipe is it's simplicity.
And if your taste buds are used to this, those taste buds run at the sight of donuts! I mean, I HATE donuts because they have too much sugar by contrast.
Sending hugs..

Jaishree from Tirunelveli:
Do you miss the Santhi Sweets mixture?!

Though I'm a native of Tuticorin, my sis-in-law is from Tirunelveli.. and her father introduced me to the mixture. And the halwa! And I'm hooked for life!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Molly, u are so sweet dear. U reminded me our favorite snack . Thanks buddy. You know what, our native foods are not loaded with ghee/ butter/ cheese. Simple and lighter dishes like this makes many of us happy.
My hubby is a great fan for the native and street food.. me too..
We enjoyed this sweet bonda. keep up the good work:)
Aiming to make the Shanthi sweet mixture soon..
Did u see my halwa? It is not a Tnvly special .. but a similar one. (check with Malar Gandhi's halwa...its very good).
Keep visiting. hugs, viki.

Adlak's tiny world said...

hey this one is simple and seems tasty too. not tried this yet.. perfect bondas.

sriharivatsan said...

Viki, in chennai also i have seen this sweet bonda in tea stalls, never tasted it though..Never knew its ur native sweet..Supera iruku parkave..

Premyscakes said...

Hi Vikki,

Bonda looks very much perfect and it is my village food too, omg! i used to have them very often when i visit my village.
Cheers.

Swapna said...

Bonda looks fluffy & soft. Perfect for starter. Kids love this:)

Raks said...

Hey,in my home town too they sell this,and my gradpa have bought once home! Tasted really good with correct quantity of sugar! Mikka nadri,for sharing...

Priya Suresh said...

Sweet bonda is quite different one wat we used to do..prefectly shaped bondas VIki..

gtyuk said...

sweet bondas, i love even kaara bondaas, hmm, nice street food, I miss so much the fragrance and smell of those streets in India, in the evenings (flowers, snacks etc) and those hot snacks that we can buy at any time of the day...

Vijitha said...

I am drooling over the recipe n ofcourse the pic. They look perfect n do pass me few!

Gayathri said...

Good entry, will try this out..

I am really happy to invite you to participate in the contest that is getting launced on Feb 20 2009 - check out this link for details - http://justurs.blogspot.com/2009/02/magnificent-click-contest-2009.html contest.

Anonymous said...

I was craving for bonda since I am pregnant :) . Thank you soo much for this recipe.. I couldnt wait for 2 hrs to make this. So I fried immediately and still came out really well.. awsome..

Kat said...

There's a blog who has been stealing your content (and from others' blogs, too) -- check it out. You should report it.

http://hot-kitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/sweet-bonda.html

Unknown said...

can you post Tuticorin Macaroon recipe.

Unknown said...

Can you post Tuticorin Macaroon and plum cake recipe. They were my favorites as a kid growing up there.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Saitri: I have never prepared macaroons. Love them very much. Thanks for reminding...I will look for ways to incorporate it in my kitchen. Thanks for visiting!

www.mahaslovelyhome.com said...

wow.bondfas r really tempting me yaar
www.mahaslovelyhome.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

hi,i tried ur recipe but it didnt come good..outside it turned to be brown but ibside it is not cooked and the taste is entirely different from those that i had in tea shop..totally got disappointed

Anonymous said...

hi it didnt come out well..the taste was entirely different

Vikis Kitchen said...

Hi Abhi, I am so sorry to hear that it didn't turn out well for u. I am pretty sure it will come out 100% successful, as I never post any recipes without trying myself. My friends too tried it and got it just like the restaurant version. So I am confident that u can also get it fine if tried with more care. I suggest u frying it in low fire for some more time.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Abhi: I think u should reduce water content in the dough . It should be like a sticky pizza dough. Also reduce flame to minimum while frying. U can make lime size balls as trial.
pls lemme know how u got it. Thanks.

PK said...

Hi viki can you please tell me the reciepe of another sweet that they do in the tea stalls which is very soft and made with maida...I love that (appam kind of sweet) but did not get the receipe...tried all over in the net...Pls chk and tell the reciepe...I will be very happy if u tell that.....

Vikis Kitchen said...

Hi Padma, I am not sure if I am correct. I have tasted a sweet called paniyaram in Madras (very small vendors). Those paniyaram are not made in paniyaram pan (paniyarakal), instead they make it by deep frying in oil. I am giving a link here with banana. You can prepare this without banana and may be you can get a similar taste. Moreover if you can remember the name of the sweet you are saying, I may be able to recollect:)
http://elitefoods.blogspot.com/2009/10/vaazhai-pazha-paniyaram.html
Happy cooking dear,
Viki

Unknown said...

Nice to see Sweet bonda! Thank you for sharing the details of this receipe.
Sweet shop in Coimbatore

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Nikesh

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