After the scorching summer we had here, the weather has taken a U turn and turned into a mild, pleasant one, reminiscent of the autumn season. Added to this it got cloudy and we had some drizzle over the weekend making it even cooler. There is something about the rain that gives me that cozy, nostalgic feeling. And on days like this, I cannot think of a better way to spend the day than to indulge in some crispy deep fried stuff. The most common deep fried stuff I resort to are these fritters/bhajjis or medu vada. But this time I decided to go for a change and made these deep fried potato vada, called Batata Vada.
Batata Vada is a popular street food in India, literally called Potato fritters is a deep fried indulgence. Even though this originated in Maharashtra, it is popular all over India and is called as Aloo Bonda in South India. It consists of a spicy potato balls which is then dipped in chick pea flour and then deep-fried. This is usually served with different chutneys along with sautéed green chillies.
There are many steps for making this dish, but once you get a hang of it, you can organize the process and make it in an efficient manner. This is served as appetizer, an evening snack or when served as Vada Paav which can be indulgent meal in itself.
Ingredients for the potato stuffing:
- 3 big potatoes ( boiled, peeled and mashed)
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1Tbsp ( green chilli+ garlic+ ginger ) coarse paste
- 3-4 strands coriander leaves
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 Tbsp oil
- Juice of a lemon
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Wash the potatoes, chop them into halves and pressure cook them along with the skin.
- After it has cooled, peel the skin, mash it in a plate and keep aside. It is alright if there are some lumps in the cooked potato.
- Take a pan and heat oil. Add the curry leaves and the coarse green chilli garlic paste and cook until the garlic turns light brown.
- Add the mashed potato, turmeric powder, salt and cook until everything is mixed.
- Cover with lid and let it cook on simmer. Add the chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice, stir well. Keep aside.
Batter/ coating for the vada:
- 1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
- 1 Tbsp rice flour
- 1tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Take a bowl and mix all the above ingredients well. The gram flour may have some lumps, so be sure to break them apart.
- Add water to this mixture in intervals and mixing it well until it becomes a smooth paste.
- Note: The consistency of the batter is important, so make sure that it is not too thick or thin. Keep aside.
Making Vada/Bonda:
- Heat sufficient oil in a pan for deep frying.
- In the meanwhile make small balls ( 2-3 inch diameter) from the stuffing that was made before.
- After the oil is hot, take a stuffing ball; dip the ball into the batter and drop it into the hot oil. Fry it and then turn it around until it gets light golden brown color.
- Transfer it to a paper towel. Continue the process with the remaining stuffing and make the Aloo Bondas.
Serve hot (very) with Tomato ketchup or Green chutney or Tamarind Chutney or as is or as Vada Paav (recipe coming up next!).
wow looks so tempting and delicious snack with awesome clicks …….
Thanks Kalyani, glad you liked it!
who doesnt like this yummy bondas…back in mlore its a very famous bonda looks very yummy
Ohh my! this is one of my favorites with tea!! 🙂
Wow, its looking so delicious!! making me remember my mom who prepares same kind of Bondas..
I’m eager to see the next recipe 😉
Cheers!
Vani
Perfect for the evening with a cup of tea. I have made bondas using kuzhi paniyaram pan. Looks yummy.
Vardhini
Event: Halloween Fiesta
Lovely clicks and perfect smack for a rainy day 🙂
The bondas kill me…I am craving for it now 🙂 Looks so tempting and yummy
Am craving for some aloo bonda, soo tempting..
They look so so perfect. I love that there is piece in the bonga than everything mashed to a puree.
Hey RC, what tempting batata wadas… 🙂
Couldn’t do it yday but wanted to wish your son a very happy birthday… what’s the 6 yr old saying?
Yummy !! And vada pav, that is one gorgeous treat from the Bombay streets !!
Lovely pictures.. and oh-so-tempting! I love batata vada/ bonda.. I guess I have always made vada, never used rice flour in the batter.Does that help in making the cover extra crisp? I love how thin and crisp it looks.
looks perfect!!!
Umm it’s been so long since I had this,:) looks yum,,,
Thank you all! Batata vada it appears is a great hit everywhere.
Dear Laavanya, thank you so much for the wishes. The kiddo did a coundown of his birthday at least from 100 days I think. The past week leading to his birthday,all he could think of was his birthday.
Belated birthday wishes to your little princess as well. God bless and hope she had a fabulous day as well.
Dear Manasi, so glad you liked it. I use the rice flour in this to make it crispier and also it retains the crispness for a longer time.
even I’ve one draft of batata vada lying.. its bit different … will post it soon. Loved the pictures, lovely clicks!
Nice Clicks RC… and they look so very tempting!!
Those scrumptious looking batata bagas must have vanished in minutes! Golden brown on the outside and soft spicy stuffing on the inside – perfect!
you do not know how this is killing me at tea time now ! we need to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!
I had tried many recipes on internet before.. bt i found somehow they needed a tweek, or atleast- the pics posted werent so true when the actual food was cooked… but this one was a total EXCEPTION! the vadas were reallly great.. my husband and mom in law really liked them and also it looked as elegant as it is shown in the pics above! Thank you so much for posting this 🙂 looking forward to try more of them soon 🙂
That is awesome, thank you so much Reshma!
Thanks so much Reshma, glad you liked it.