Kaara boondhi

Kaara boondhi is one of the spicy snacks that can be prepared very easily. The broad multi holed spatula, is the special equipment which makes boondhi preparation very easy. I bought this spatula in a nearby Indian grocery store for $4. This spicy boondi can be used to make raita too. It is a popular snack in Tamilnadu and also this is one of the main ingredients in Tamilnadu / Kerala mixture snack.

Spicy Boondhi (Kaara boondhi)

This is the equipment, boondhi karandi needed to make boondhi (spatula with multiple holes)

Ingredients:
besan flour - 1 cup
rice flour - 1/4 cup
salt - less than a tsp
baking soda - 1/8 tsp
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
oil - for deep frying (300 ml)

for garnishing:
raw peanut - 1 cup
curry leaf - few
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste

Method:
Put the besan flour, rice flour, salt, red chilly powder 1/2 tsp, baking soda in a wide mixing bowl. Using a 1/2 cup water (add little by little), mix to a thick idli batter consistency.
Heat oil in a deep and wide frying pan.Bring it to frying temperature. Reduce to medium heat.
Scoop a ladle full of batter to the boondhi karandi (boondi spatula). Press and allow the boondhi batter to fall as small droplets. These tiny balls of boonthi gets fried within a few seconds. Check and fry till crispy, while maintaining the pale color.
Drain oil, take out and spread over paper towels to absorb excess oil.
Repeat for all the batter and gather the boonthis in a container.
In the same hot oil , fry the raw groundnut and curry leaves separately.
Mix the boonthi with fried items and add chilly powder and salt to taste.
Kaara boonthi is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Store the boonthi in airtight container and serve as snack.
The plain boonthi without adding peanuts can be used to make boondi raita.

Boondhi

Boondhi - very tiny drops of besan flour, fried and soaked in sugar syrup.

Last week I saw hubby buying some gifts for me for the Valentine's day. I peeked into that bag after he started for office and there were very cute hair clips with glittering stones. They are the ones I used to give a glance in a nearby Indian grocery store and pass on without buying, just like a typical housewife:) I think he could have seen me watching them and adoring them:) Isn't it so sweet to get what we long for? I too wanted to make something special for him. Then I bought 2 beautiful Valentine's day themed tins from dollar stores and filled them with his favorite sweets like boondhi and badusha along with  almond kulfi ice cream. 

Here is the recipe for boondhi.

My simple gift to hubby:)

I have given the measures to make one cereal bowl full of boondhi. Increase the measures by seeing my laddo recipe:

Ingredients:

Besan flour(bengal gram flour / kadalai mavu)- 3/4 cup
(water for boondhi- almost half the flour)
sugar - 3/4 cup (if needed increase few more tsp)
water for syrup - 1/2 cup
baking soda - a pinch
turmeric powder / yellow food color - a pinch
oil - to deep fry

To garnish:

ghee - 1 tbsp
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
pachai karpuram (edible camphor) - a pinch
cashew - few
raisin - few

Special equipment needed:

A perforated vessel to make boondhis.
(If we are doing for a small batch, say 1 cup flour, then make holes on a disposable plate using a skewer. I have done this disposable home made boondhi making plate , before buying a traditional boondhi maker and it was very successful too.).

Sugar syrup:

Make a sugar syrup of 1 thread consistency. (Heat the sugar and water together till it starts boiling. After few seconds it will be sticky to touch). Switch off.

Preparing Boondhi:

Mix the baking soda, turmeric / food color with water and pour it into the four. Add water little by little, till it reaches a thick dosa batter consistency. The consistency should be so thick that, if we place a scoop of batter on the perforated plate, it should not run down easily (we have to press the drops in the oil).

Now add the oil/ ghee in a broad wok and start heating slowly, without reaching the fuming point. Keep in medium heat. Gently pour a ladle of batter over the boondhi making perforated bowl and press it to the hot oil. Don't crowd the oil. Fry for a few seconds only. The final product should be crispy.(My version calls for crispy boondhis. But if you want, you can make soft boondhis too). Immediately transfer them to the sugar syrup. Repeat and collect all the boondi in the syrup. Mix well.

Fry the cashew and raisins in ghee and add it to boondhi along with cardamom powder, edible camphor. If there is some excess syrup, gently heat the syrup so that the boondhi absorbs it and each droplet should stay separate. It should not crystallize.

Serving suggestions:

Makes a big bowl of boondhi.
Serve as snack or dessert in normal temperature.
Time taken - 20 minutes.