Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Baked Bread Bonda


Bondas are balls of spiced mashed potatoes dipped in a gram flour batter and deep fried. Bread Bondas are essentially the same thing, except, the potato mixture is wrapped in moistened bread instead and deep fried. Main theme? Potato. Deep fried.

I made a baked version of the Bread Bondas instead. It's not that I'm overly health conscious and scoff at deep friend deliciousness. It's simply because deep frying can be quite a tedious process and what with the boiling, mashing, spicing and wrapping involved, I just felt like skipping the deep frying part. Lining them up on a baking sheet and popping them into an oven was soooo much easier.

So how did I keep them crispy? Just when I began to wonder if brushing oil onto the outer layer would be the next move, my oh so sprightly mind came up with a fairly healthy solution... Coconut Mylk!

Heck, I wasn't gonna deep fry anyways, so might as well keep the oil at bay right?

Read on...

Baked Bread Bonda

BAKED BREAD BONDA

8-10 slices Vegan Whole Wheat Bread (crusts removed)
1/4 C thick Coconut Mylk
5-6 medium sized Potatoes (steamed/boiled in salted water, peeled and mashed)
1 Carrot (finely chopped and nuked/steamed for a few minutes)
Small handful Green Peas (nuked/steamed for a few minutes)
1 tsp Coconut Oil + a few drops for greasing
1 Green Chilli (very finely chopped)
6-10 cloves of Garlic (crushed)
1/2 tsp Ginger Paste
1/4 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala Powder
1/4 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1/8 tsp Asafoetida Powder
1/8 tsp Turmeric Powder
Curry Leaves (finely chopped)
Salt

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the garlic, ginger, curry leaves and chillies.

Stir on medium flame for half a minute.

Add the carrot and peas and stir fry for another half a minute.

Add the rest of the spices and salt and mix for a few seconds.

Add the mashed potatoes and mix well.

Turn off flame and keep aside.

Once the mixture has cooled a bit, shape into elongated balls.

Lightly grease a baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 250 C (475 F)

Pour the coconut mylk into a wide, flat pan and dilute with 1/8 C of water.

Quickly dip a slice of bread into the coconut mylk to moisten it completely, very gently squeeze between your palms to remove any excess coconut mylk and place it on a flat surface.

Place a ball of the potato mixture in the middle and fold the bread over it.

If the bread tends to break, don't worry, just take the whole thing in your palms and gently squeeze the bread onto the potato filling till it's covered on all sides. With a little bit of practice, you'll get the hang of this.

Place the prepared Bondas on the baking tray 1 inch apart.

Once the tray is full pop into the oven and grill for 10 minutes.

Carefully turn the Bondas over and continue grilling for another 10 minutes (until the bread is all toasty and golden brown).

Serve hot but be careful when you bite into it because the inside will be piping hot.

I like mine with ketchup but Tabasco would work too if you like it to be spicier than it is.

Enjoy! :)

4 comments:

  1. Hi! Thanks for dropping by my page & leaving the motivating comment :)
    Led me to your blog first time.
    It's interesting how so many people are shifting from frying to baking - I still am old-fashioned in this case :P

    I also checked your other page on arts & crafts - and I must say I'm amazed the most at your polymer clay & metallic colored pendants.
    Can't believe they're handmade - man you're tooooo good!!

    By the way, just curious, is there a reason behind why you write milk as 'Mylk'? :D

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  2. i love bread bondas! used to be a staple after school snack.. all kinds of fried things.. its weird.. though we also ate a lot of fruits.. we ate a lot of savory and fried things..
    and now here its super sweet snacks all the time.. i crave salt some days. and the non fried goodies.. i have to make me some bondas this week.

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  3. Nish, it's a common trend among vegans to use Mylk instead of Milk to clearly specify the difference. :)

    Richa, I know right? I used to eat way more fried stuff as a kid too and be just fine!! I guess young tummies are stronger? LOL I like sweet stuff but when it comes to snacking, I prefer salty and spicy any day. :)

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  4. Looking to avoid the deep frying part just because I don’t have a kadhai and I dislike deep frying in think bottom pans it burns way too quickly ... thank you

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