Aloo Bonda

10 People
40 min.
easy

These deliciously spicy snacks are made with mashed potato, cashew nuts, ginger, garlic and chillies, then deep-fried in a chickpea-flour batter to crisp golden perfection. Serve these vegan bites with chutney or tomato sauce.

Tips

This is a great dish for entertaining because you can prepare the potato mixture well in advance. Roll it into balls and keep them covered in the fridge until it's time to dip them in the batter and deep fry them.

Ingredients

For potato masala:

10 ml (2 tsp) vegetable oil
5 ml (1 tsp) mustard seeds
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) cumin seeds (jeera)
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) coriander seeds crushed
1 handful of curry leaves, chopped
6 cashews roughly crushed
1 small onion finely chopped
2.5 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 green chilli finely chopped
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) Robertsons Turmeric
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) Robertsons Peri-Peri
1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) Rajah Mild Masala Curry Powder
2 ml salt to taste
355 g (or 3 medium sized potato) boiled, peeled and mashed
30 ml (2 tbsp) coriander leaves finely chopped
15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice

For the batter:

250 ml (1 cup) chickpea flour or besan flour
60 ml (1/4 cup) corn flour
1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) Robertsons Peri-Peri
125 ml (1/4 tsp) baking soda
200 ml water
5 ml (1 tsp) vegetable oil (plus extra for deep frying)

Cooking Method

First prepare the potato masala. In a large pan, heat the oil and fry the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and some curry leaves. Be careful not to burn the spices.
Add the crushed cashews and toast until golden brown. Now add the onion, ginger and chilli, and sauté until soft.
Stir in the Robertsons Turmeric, Robertsons Peri-Peri, Rajah Mild Masala Curry Powder and salt, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the mashed potato, coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix well. Set aside and allow to cool.
To make the batter, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.
Heat the oil in a pot. Form the potato mixture into balls and dip each one into the prepared batter. Deep fry the balls in the hot oil, in batches, until they are crisp and golden.
Serve hot with tomato sauce or chutney.