Kara boondi / Spicy boondi

Kara boondi is a spicy, tasty and popular anytime snack made especially during Diwali.

INGREDIENTS:

• Gram flour / Besan flour - 1 cup
• Rice flour - 1/4 cup
• Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
• Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Hing - 1/8 tsp.
• Salt - as needed (approx. 1/2 tsp. more or less)
• Cooking soda - 1 pinch (optional, I did not use)
• Peanuts - 1 tablespoon
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Ghee - 1 tsp.
• Oil - to deep fry
• Perforated ladles

METHOD:

Sieve gram flour and rice flour. Take a broad bowl, add the sieved flour, turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt, hing and mix well. Add a tablespoon of  hot oil, mix well. Add water little by little and make a batter of pouring consistency, slightly thinner than dosa batter consistency. Whisk well without any lumps. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Take the perforated ladle, hold it little high above the oil. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter into the ladle. Tap it lightly so that the batter will drop into the oil. Alternatively, you can use another ladle to spread the batter. Fry in medium flame. When the oil stops sizzling, fry for few more seconds until the boondis become golden and crispy. Drain with another slotted ladle and place the boondis in a kitchen tissue to absorb the excess oil. Wipe the perforated ladle on both sides with a paper towel after each batch, so that the  holes are not clogged. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

In a pan heat ghee and fry peanuts until crisp. Add curry leaves. Stir fry with a spoon. Switch off the flame. Add it to the boondi and toss well.  Spicy Kara boondi is ready. When cool, store in an airtight container.

Variation:

1. Ghee-fried cashews can also be added.

2. Instead of adding chilli powder in the batter, you can sprinkle it on the fried boondis and toss it well.

3. Boondhis can be done without chilli powder

4. Pepper powder can be substituted for chilli powder and sprinkled finally to the fried boondhis. 

TIP: If the batter is watery, boondhis will be flat. Add little besan. If the batter is very thick, boondis will become dense. To check the batter consistency, dip the handle of a spoon into the boondi batter and let it drip into hot oil and see if the boondi shape is round, crisp and perfect.