When it comes to south Indian cuisine and delicacies, Mysore holds a unique and characteristic of its own. Mysore is a Karnataka city and is  home to delicious food items that you may not find anywhere else. The city is a paradise for vegetarians with so many choices of food items. The famous Mysore city food is famous and mainly rice based. Though idli and dosa form an important part of the cuisine of Mysore but different types of dosa and Idli and chutneys to accompany them will take one by surprise. There is much more to the famous Mysore idli and dosa that is well known all over the world as the food of the south. Traditional Mysore breakfast is simple, wholesome and delicious. Most of them are rice based and are normally served with chutney and or sambhar.
Mysore bonda is one of the most popular snacks originating from Mysore, Karnataka. It is also popular in Andhra Pradesh and commonly known as Mysore bhaji. Mysore bonda is a lemon size dumpling made of all-purpose flour, rice flour, cooking soda and buttermilk. Mysore bonda is a healthy snack crunchy on the outer side and soft and spongy in the inner side of the dumpling. It is a perfect snack for evening parties which can be half cooked and then cooked again before serving. The bonda is one of the traditional and unique snacks from Mysore cuisine. The Mysore bonda can be eaten at breakfast time or as an appetiser or snacks. Mysore bonda tastes good when served hot accompanied with coconut chutney. If the Mysore bondas are served cold they become very soft, squishy and bland in taste.
Preparing Mysore bonda is very simple, whisk yoghurt and keep aside. Take a bowl and add all purpose flour, rice flour, baking soda and add buttermilk and mix into Vada batter. Add cumin seeds, fresh coconut pieces finely chopped green chillies and mix the batter and rest aside for 1 hour. Remember cooking soda when combined with an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk produces carbon dioxide, which causes the dough or batter to rise. This helps in making the batter fluffy and to get the sponginess in Mysore bonda. Heat oil in pan, with wet palm, form small round bonda and fry them in hot oil over slow flame. If you cook it over high flame the outer casing would turn brown very fast and the batter inside will still be raw. Remove once they turn golden brown in colour. Serve it hot with coconut chutney.
The flavour of the cumin seeds, green chilli, curry leaves and fresh coconut gets blended well in the batter and you can get a nice spicy crunchy taste to the Mysore bonda. This bonda can be eaten at any time you want but your dietician may caution you because it is deep fried. There are few variations of this Vada and all of them are worth a try.
Bonda soup – Bonda is dipped in sambhar and is eaten like a soup dumpling combination.
Potato bonda – The core of this delicious bonda is mashed potato spiced and mixed with generous amount of dill. The mash is then made into balls, dipped in lentil flour batter and deep fried into golden crispy balls.
They are crispy outside and fluffy inside. They make a delightful treat for any party or snack for tea time. Serve them with coconut chutney.
Mysoreans like their dosa thick and buttery with spiced potato (dosa masala) and spicy chilli garlic chutney and other vegetables inside. It is also laced with in a thin paste of groundnut. Traditionally, it is served on a banana leave with a coconut chutney. The most famous place to try Mysorean dosa is local Mylari hotel in the city, a legendary place, which only serves dosas, produced at a rate of 400 pieces (approx.) an hour.


Mysore Bonda


Ingredients
Serves 4
All-purpose flour 1 cup
Rice flour ¼ cup
Salt 1 tsp
Baking soda ½ tsp
Cumin seeds ½ tsp
Curry leaves chopped 1 tbsp
Onion chopped 1 tbsp
Yoghurt ½ cup
Ginger chopped 1 tsp
Green chilli chopped 1 tbsp
Cilantro chopped 2 tbsp
Oil to deep fry


Method
To make the batter, sift all-purpose flour with baking soda in a bowl.
Add rice flour, salt, cumin seeds and add yoghurt and mix it well with some more moisture.
Add chopped ginger, green chilli, cilantro, curry leaves, onion and mix well.
Set aside the batter for about 15-20 minutes.
The batter should be light and fluffy, adjust the consistency with water.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, to deep fry the bonda.
To check if the oil is at right temperature put little batter in the oil, the batter should sizzle and float on top.
The oil should not be too hot otherwise the bonds will not cook thoroughly in the centre and will be over cooked from outside.
Place about 2 tbsp of batter into the oil with your wet fingers, repeat with the remaining batter in small batches.
Turn the oil to evenly cook the bonda from all sides for about 3-4 minutes.
The bonda should be crispy and golden brown from outside and soft inside.
Note: You can also replace the all-purpose flour with wheat flour to make a healthier version of the Mysore bond.