Aloo Bonda | Indian Mashed Potato Fritters

Aloo Bonda is a popular South Indian snack made with mashed potato balls that are dipped in a spicy chickpea flour batter and deep-fried in hot oil. 

It has been three years since I came to Yanbu and this is my first Eid in this home. I was so excited because I will be starting my Eid tradition. This Ramadan there was not a day we did not deep fry! Aloo Bonda is F's favourite, but I tend not to make them too often. If potatoes are boiled and mashed, I prefer it going between Paratha dough, saving myself from another what's for dinner dilemma. 😜

What is Aloo Bonda?

Aloo Bonda is the most popular snack of the Indian Subcontinent made with the humble Potato. Boiled and roughly mashed, added to a tempering of onion masala, shaped into balls and dipped in chickpea flour batter and then deep-fried! Each state of India might have its twist but major ingredients remain the same. This Aloo Bonda recipe is very similar to Maharashtrian Batata Vada except here we use rice flour along with besan for the batter.

Tips

• Potatoes: The key to a perfect Aloo Bonda that does not suck oil while frying is to boil the potatoes with skin and then peel and mash it coarsely. We don't need smooth potato mash so a lot of chunks are ok as far as they are cooked through.
• Batter: The next key item is the batter which needs to be in pouring consistency, not runny, not thick that it doesn't fall off the spoon, and not too thin that it doesn't stay in the spoon. Got it? The batter has a mix of chickpea flour aka besan and rice flour.
• Shape: To make a perfect ball-shaped bonda, I used a spoon to scoop the batter-drenched aloo bondas and drop them carefully into the hot oil.
• Deep fry: Frying the aloo bondas in the right size pot also helps with the perfect shape. With too little oil or too shallow a pan, you get one side flat bondas. So use a deep pot with enough oil to deep fry. Even though everything is pre-cooked except for the batter, you will still have to fry the aloo bondas on medium flame to get crispy bondas.

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Aloo Bonda | Indian Mashed Potato Fritters

Learn how to make the filling for aloo bonda, a popular South Indian snack and the batter with chickpea flour to deep fry the fritters.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

Keyword: aloo bonda, mashed potato fritters

Servings: 4 people

Author: Famidha Ashraf

Ingredients

For the Aloo Bonda Balls

• 3 medium-sized potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed roughly
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon split urad dal
• 1 to 2 sprig of curry leaves chopped
• 2 to 3 green chillies chopped finely
• 1 large onion chopped finely (divided)
• ½ inch ginger chopped very finely
• 2 pinches turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon chaat masala
• Fresh coriander leaves chopped finely
• Salt to taste

For the batter

• ¾ cup besan gram flour aka gram flour
• 2 tablespoons rice flour
• 1 pinch asafoetida hing
• 1 pinch turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1 pinch baking soda
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• water as required
• Oil to deep fry

Instructions

Prepare the Mashed Potato Balls

• Boil 3 to 4 potatoes in a pressure cooker for 3 to 4 whistles. Discard the water, peel and mash the potatoes roughly.
• Heat oil in a kadai or deep pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Let them splutter until urad dal turns golden.
• Add ginger, green chillis, and half of the chopped onion with a dash of salt. Saute until onions turn translucent and then add the turmeric powder to the mix and stir for a minute.
• Transfer the content to the bowl of mashed potato, add the lemon juice, remaining chopped onions, coriander leaves and more salt if required.
• Mix everything thoroughly with your hand or fork. Make equal-sized balls using a tablespoon or two and keep them on a plate.

Prepare the batter

• Mix all the batter ingredients in a bowl and add enough water to make a semi-thick consistency. Add water little by little so we can adjust the consistency. If you add a lot of water initially, you may have to add more flour and adjust the spices. We need a consistency where the batter leaves a thick coating on the potato mixture when dipped.

Fry

• Heat oil in a kadai on a medium flame.
• Dip the aloo balls into the batter bowl using a spoon and ensure to coat it well.
• Pick the ball with the spoon and drop it carefully into the hot oil. Don't crowd the kadai.
• Deep fry the aloo bondas on medium flame by turning over the balls often so it is cooked evenly and gets crispy outside.
• Remove using a slotted spoon once all the bondas turn a deep golden shade.
• Place on a kitchen tissue and serve hot with ketchup or any chutney of choice!