Kara Boondhi

Happy Diwali everyone! I realise I’m a week late, but I hope everyone enjoyed the joy and light filled festivities. I love this time of the year.

Back home, we always had a celebration. When we were kids, my dad would buy Nans and me a big box of crackers and our cousins would come over to celebrate the festival with us. While the kids were running around, bursting crackers, the adults would stand back and indulge in a glass of stiff whiskey and conversation. Except my dad. He was always with us to make sure that we were having maximum fun. He was the one arranging all the crackers for us; flowerpots, ground chakrams, 100 walas, lakshmi bombs, et all. And he was so fast! Us kids were always trying to catch up with him. One to the right, one to the left, one behind, all ready to be lit and by the time you light that up, there would be another one waiting to be lit. My uncle would recite funny poems about running away from danger, there would be kids in the neighbouring terrace bursting crackers as well, squealing with glee, the sound of crackers drowning everything else. It was chaos and cacophony, but it was our kind of fun.

As we got older we ditched the crackers, but the party continued. Relatives came from everywhere and our apartment was filled with loud conversations, laughter, and joy. Nans, my brother-in-law Vish, and I would plan the games while my mom planned the menu. Rockstar that she is, she’d always plan to cook all of it. A whole array of starters, chapatis (that she’d grudgingly agree to get from the neighbourhood restaurant), two different curries to go with it, fried rice and curd rice. Oh, how I miss my mom’s cooking! And did I mention dessert as well?

The day of Diwali, we’d float flowers and candles in big, open pots and light pretty lamps all around the house. It made the apartment look so gorgeous. As people poured in, my dad and Vish would take over the role of bartenders and the games would begin. I love my house during Diwali!

This Diwali, I decided to recreate some of that magic and called some friends over. On the menu I had planned chapatis, baingan bartha (which is a curry made of fire roasted eggplant), dal makhani (black lentils slow cooked in butter), cumin rice, and cashew halwa for dessert. Well actually, it started off as kaju katli (an Indian sweet made of cashews and sugar syrup,) but the consistency was too soft and it didn’t set.  The taste, however, was sooo good.

The thing that makes Diwali so special is that everyone makes savoury and sweet snacks and distributes it to friends and family. Back in Madras, there was a sweet shop next to my house and a month before Diwali, they would start making the snacks. Everyday, I would wake up to the smell of roasted curry leaves and ghee (clarified butter) from my window and that’s all we could smell all day! As much as I found it clawing back then, I missed it now. I poured through recipes, looking for something that would take me back to that house, to that smell, to that feeling, and settled on kara boondhi.

The procedure is quite simple, you have to pour a spoonful of batter through a slotted spoon. It’s probably the easiest of the various snacks as the others like ribbon pakodas, and omapodi need special instruments. I’ve never realised till now, but a slotted spoon, while is available in every household in India, was not available in a house where 4 Indian kids lived. Since I didn’t have one, I used the base of a vegetable strainer as it has similar small holes at the bottom.

The batter consists of just five ingredients; besan/gram flour, rice flour, salt, chili powder, and asafoetida. Make sure it is an easy pourable consistency. Heat the oil slowly and to check it it is ready, drop a little bit of batter into it. It it puffs up and floats immediately, the oil is ready. If it flattens and drops to the bottom, it’s not ready.

Once it turns golden brown remove the small balls with another slotted spoon and lay it on a piece of tissue, allowing it to soak up the oil. Garnish with fried cashews and fried curry leaves. Toss the mixture with a pinch of salt and chili powder while it is still hot.

And your Diwali snack is ready.  Wasn’t that easy? and the best part is, you can always whip up more in no time. I had to. We were all so caught up in playing cards, that we didn’t realise we had inhaled the whole box of kara boondhi.

Let me know how it turned out for you.

AuthorPriyanka SivaramakrishnanDifficultyBeginner