Garam Masala Tuesdays: Bonda Soup
 
 
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
For the bondas:
  • 1 cup urad dal (split black lentils)
  • 3 green chillies, roughly chopped
  • 3 to 4 peppercorns
  • 8 to 10 curry leaves, finely chopped (kadi patta)
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • salt to taste
  • coconut oil or any other refined oil for deep-frying
For the soup:
  • ½ cup mung bean dal
  • ½ cup toovar dal
  • 3-4 cups water (depending on how thin you want the soup to be, the soup is supposed to be very watery)
  • pinch Asafetida
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 8-10 curry leaves
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • Red chillies, according to taste
  • salt, to taste
  • bunch of coriander/cilantro leaves,finely chopped for garnishing
  • juice of a lemon, optional
Instructions
For the bondas:
  1. Soak the urad daal in enough water for about 4-5 hours.
  2. Drain, add the green chillies, pepper, curry leaves and ginger and blend in a mixer to a smooth batter, adding little water. Do not add too much water while making the batter, lesser the better, but enough for the blender motor to run smoothly. Grind for a good amount of time, until the batter becomes fluffy and you see some bubbles on the top.
  3. Add salt and mix well. The salt should slightly be on the higher side as most of the saltiness goes away when deep frying.
  4. Heat oil on medium high in a thick bottomed pan sufficient enough to deep fry.
  5. To check if the oil is at the correct temperature, put a small amount of batter in the oil. If there is a sizzle that means the oil is ready.
  6. Wet your hands and take about about a golf ball size amount of the batter and deep fry. Add about 4-5 depending on the size of the pan at the same time.
  7. After about 20-30 secs turn them around, making sure all sides get cooked evenly.
  8. Transfer them to a plate with absorbent paper so that the extra oil drains. Continue tthe above with the remaining batter. I got about 12 medium sized vadas.
For the soup:
  1. Pressure cook the dals with a little salt and water.
  2. For the tempering, heat oil in a small pan. Once hot, add the asafetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Add the grated ginger once the seeds begin to sizzle. Add these tempered spices to the cooked daal, and cook a little. If required add hot water to thin down the soup to a more watery consistency.
  3. Serve the soup with the bonda dunked in the soup. Add a few drops of lemon juice at the end for taste, if you like. Garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves.
Note: My friend told me that you can add a pinch of soda for the urad dal batter just before frying for crispness but she usually doesn't as soda makes the bonda little oily. Rice flour, or semolina flour can be used instead.
Recipe by The Novice Housewife at https://novicehousewife.com/2013/05/21/garam-masala-tuesdays-bonda-soup/