Punugulu | Idli Batter Fritters | Idli Mavu Bonda

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Punugulu / Punukkulu is a Andhra snack and common street food in Vijayawada and few coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Punugulu is a deep fried snack made with rice, urad dal and other spices. But we can make this delicious and crispy Punugulu with left over Idli / Dosa batter or even with fresh Idli Batter. Most of us make Idli batter every week for breakfast so mostly its very handy to make it with idli batter. Idli batter along with few other ingredients makes this wonderful evening snack!

Table of Contents

Another Method of making Punugulu:

We can soak ¼ cup of urad dal and ¾ cup of rice for 2 hours and then grind it to smooth paste and then enrich with onion, green chili, ginger, cumin. Which is then deep fried to get these crispy fritters. If we soak and prepare the batter fresh, then the batter will not be fermented and hence there will not be a sour taste to the batter and also the inner portion of the punugulu will be little dense compared to the idli batter Punugulu which will be very fluffy because of the fermentation of the idli batter. Also idli/dosa batter will be more handy than soaking and grinding process.

Tips for making Punugulu:

We add sooji and rice flour to make the idli batter little thicker in consistency, so we can take the batter and drop in oil like a dumpling.
Do not add more sooji as it makes the punugulu more harder and dense.
If the idli/dosa batter is very diluted, then adjust with more rice flour. Or we can grind poha to a smooth powder and add it to the batter which also helps to get thick batter.
Adding onions are optional. If you want to exclude, you can do.
We can enhance the batter with grated carrot, coconut and peppercorns.
While deep frying make sure to deep fry in low flame so the fritters are crispy and golden brown.

You may also want to try:

Kunukku is a deep fried crispy fritters made from Idli batter or Adai Batter. This is Adai Batter Knukku. A very crunchy snack to compliment with tea/coffee for a wonderful evening
Pattanam Pakoda, a very popular street side snack in Chennai and many cities of TamilNadu. Crispy outside, soft inside this pakoda is so tasty and mouth-watering.
Masal Vadai (Masala Vada) is a very popular and famous snack in Southern India, especially in Tamilnadu.

Recipe Card for making Punugulu

INSTRUCTIONS WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES:

In a mixing bowl, pour the idli batter. Add semolina and rice flour. Also add finely chopped green chili, ginger, cashew, onion, cumin seeds to the batter.

Now add curry leaves, coriander leaves and add ½ teaspoon of salt.

Give everything a good mix.

Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, drop a small pinch of batter to check the readiness of the oil. If the batter raises up in the oil, then the oil is in perfect heat. Keep the flame in low-medium and gently drop 4-5 dumplings out of the batter using a spoon or clean damp hands. We don’t need to make a perfect circle shape.

Deep fry the idli batter fritters in oil till they are golden brown and nicely crispy. Flip and cook on all sides. Take out the fried Punugulu and place it on paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the same for rest of the batter.

Serve the Punugulu (Idli Batter Fritters), hot with your favorite dip. Coconut chutney, Peanut Chutney or even ketchup would be a great complement for this awesome dish.