Mini tiffin - a South Indian breakfast platter and the recipe for Mysore bonda

BM #74 Week 3 Day 1
Theme : Thalis
Dish : Mysore bonda

Buffets, thalis, quick meals, mini tiffins - any meal where an assortment of dishes is served on one platter is something that I can never resist. The last time we were in the husband's hometown, we went to a small restaurant where I tried out the breakfast tiffin thali. With small portions of pongal, vadai, kesari, sambar, chutney, puri masal and dosa served in a visually and gastronomically appealing manner, this is one breakfast that has been fondly talked about and remembered very often.  In fact, every time I've felt even slightly hungry, I've wished that there was some place here that served this kind of thali.  Making a large number of dishes when I don't have company is usually not my style of cooking, but  this time, I decided to make an exception.

In the platter are an Onion Dosa, mini idlis soaked in sambar, rava kichdi, rava kesari, mysore bonda and coconut chutney.

Some of these recipes have been shared on the blog before and I have included links to older posts with the recipes.
Today, I will be sharing the recipe for Mysore bonda - a deep fried snack that, though a little time consuming, is not very difficult to make.

What you need :
Urad dal - 1 cup, soaked in plenty of water for an hour and drained
Curry leaves - a few, chopped
Green chillies - 3, minced
Black peppercorns - 7 or 8, coarsely crushed
Coconut sliced into tiny bits - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Grind the drained urad dal, adding as little water as possible, in a grinder (recommended) or a blender (second best option). When well ground, the batter will be light and fluffy, floating when a bit of it is added to water.
Remove this batter into a container and add all the other ingredients except salt. (*)
Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. When the oil is hot, add salt to the batter, mix it well and drop small balls of batter to the oil. Fry on a medium flame until well browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain off excess oil using a paper towel.
Serve hot with coconut chutney.

* Salt, when added to the batter, makes it watery and difficult to shape. So, add it at the very end, just before you start frying, and mix it in well.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#74.

Mangalore bonda - Golibaje

The first time I had mangalore bondas is at Matsya, a restaurant in T.Nagar, Chennai. These small, light and fluffy deep fried balls of flour disappeared almost as soon as they arrived at our table and since then, I have never missed a chance to order these when I visit that restaurant.
Blogging Marathon 6 gave me a chance to try my hand at making this snack at home. The recipe is from Ramya's Mane Adige. Thank you, Ramya, for helping me recreate a restaurant favourite at home.

What you need:
Maida - 1 cup, heaped
Curd - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Green chillies - 2, minced
Corriander - a little, finely chopped
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Cooking soda - 1/4 tsp
Oil - for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Don't add all the curd at one go. Add it little by little and keep mixing until you get a dough that is of dropping consistency. I added a few more teaspoons of curd in addition to the half cup listed above to get the right consistency. The batter will be sticky. So dip your hands in some water and pinch out small gooseberry sized balls of dough and gently slide them into hot oil. Deep fry until brown on both sides.
Enjoy with coconut chutney or ketchup.

What I think of the dish:
This is an easy snack to whip up and it tastes really, really good. These can be quite addictive and it is difficult to stop eating them once you get started. The bondas turned out to be very light and crisp and were not too oily despite being deep fried.
Do take a look at what my fellow marathoners are up to.
This goes to Champa who is hosting Kids' Delight -Mini bites, an event started by Srivalli.