Bajji Bonda Mix Recipe – How To Make Bajji Bonda Pakoda Mix Powder At Home

Bajji, Bonda, Pakoda & Vada are the most popular tea time snacks recipes in India especially South India. Most of us make these crispy, deep fried delicacies during weekends or for guests as evening snacks. My friends in Tamil nadu buy Aachi or Sakthi bajji bonda mix powder regularly.But in my family, both MOM & MIL never buy store bought bajji bonda mix. They make it fresh whenever needed. Both follow the same proportion of besan flour and rice flour to make bajji batter / Bajji maavu. 

By learning from them, I can make different types of crispy bajji recipes at home easily. Not me, anyone can make it perfect if you know the right proportion of ingredients & the consistency of batter. I never thought of making homemade bajji, bonda mix recipe until Raksha started to eat them during weekends or holidays very often. Whenever I ask her choice of evening snacks, her reply would be mostly onion bajji or homemade cake. I don’t make cakes thinking about the consumption of maida. 

So I prepare onion/potato bajji or pakoda based on her wish. Sometimes I feel lazy to make it. So I started making bulk quantity of my own, homemade bajji, bonda mix and store in refrigerator for a month. It stays good even without refrigeration. I don’t add food color or cooking soda in the mix. I add them while making bajji only if needed. Lets see how to make bajji, bonda mix at home easily! If you have this mix in hand, you can make varieties of bajji, bonda or pakoda in just 5 minutes.  I hope all the moms like me would find this post useful.

Do check out my rava upma mix and instant poha upma mix recipes too.

Check out Raw banana bajji,  Potato bajji,  onion bajji,  Karpooravalli bajji,  aloo paneer bonda,  Potato bonda,  Instant bonda,  Mangalore bonda,  millet flour pakoda.

Homemade Bajji, Bonda Mix Recipe

Homemade Bajji, Bonda, Pakoda mix – How to make bajji, bonda mix recipe at home 

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks Recipes 

Yields:  1.5 cups

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Gram flour / Besan flour – 1.5 cups  Rice flour - 1/2 cup Asafetida / hing – 1/2 tsp  Red Chilli Powder –  1.5 to 2 tbsp (Adjust based on spice level) Orange Red food color –   2 pinches ( optional) Cumin seeds or ajwain/omam - 1.5 tsp   Cooking soda or baking soda – 1/2 tsp (optional, You can add a pinch of soda while making bajji.) To make bajji, bonda or pakoda Bajji, bonda mix – as needed Vegetables like onion, potato, brinjal, raw banana Water – as needed  Cooking soda or baking soda – a pinch  ( If needed) Cooking oil – to deep fry

HOW TO MAKE BAJJI BONDA MIX - METHOD

In a wide bowl, mix the besan flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, cumin seeds or ajwain, salt, food color ( if using) and mix well. If you want, you can sieve the flour, salt, chilli powder for uniform mixing and then add cumin seeds. Adding soda in the mix makes the bajji absorb more oil while frying. So I add baking soda just before making bajji.   To make bajji or bonda : Take the required quantity of bajji mix in a bowl. Add a pinch or dash of cooking soda if you have not added already. Mix well. Add water to make a slightly thick batter. If the batter is too thick, vegetables won’t get coated properly. If the batter is thin, bajji will have tails. So add water gradually. Dip the vegetable in the batter, deep fry till golden in color. Please refer my ONION BAJJI RECIPE & POTATO BONDA for more details.   To make onion pakoda : Take the required quantity of bajji mix in a wide bowl. Add thinly sliced onion and mix well. Rest for 5 minutes. Add water and make a thick paste. Onions should be coated well. Add some hot oil and make pakoda. I will try to make a detailed post soon. Check out my Millet flour onion pakoda if interested. Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of chilli powder as per your taste. Adding Kashmiri chilli powder gives a nice color to the bajji. You don’t need to add food color too. You can store this mix upto one month.   For masala flavor, you can add garam masala powder & ginger-garlic paste while making bajji.

Make this easy mix at home. Enjoy bajji, bonda anytime !

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Milagu Podi For Idli – Pepper Idli Milagai Podi Recipe

I learnt this Milagu podi for Idli from my MIL. Last time when I went to Salem, she kept this pepper idli podi as side dish for for idli, dosa. Basically Sendhil loves pepper flavored recipes a lot. So my MIL had prepared this pepper podi specially for her son. We loved it very much and I noted down the recipe immediately.  As we all know pepper has amazing health benefits. South Indians include pepper in their food by making rasam, milagu kuzhambu & ven pongal.

 Apart from these recipes, I feel this pepper idli podi is a great way to include pepper in our regular diet. The quantity of pepper consumption is more in this podi.  It should be served by mixing with ghee or sesame oil. It tastes the best with hot idli & dosa. Do try this pepper idli podi for a change and reap the health benefits of pepper. Lets see how to make spicy pepper powder for idli and dosa with step by step pictures !
Check out my ellu podi/ Sesame seeds powder for idli, dosa. Its also an interesting & unique recipe .

Pepper idli podi - Milagu podi for idli,dosa

Pepper idli podi - Milagu podi for idli,dosa

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Side dish for idli dosa

Serves: 1/2 cup

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Black pepper - 1 tbsp White urad dal - 1 tbsp Chana dal - 1 tbsp Red chilli - 1 no Hing/ Asafetida - 2 pinches or garlic cloves - 2 nos Salt - as needed Cooking oil  or sesame oil – 2 tsp

HOW TO MAKE PEPPER IDLI PODI - METHOD

Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai and roast urad dal till golden. Remove in a plate. In the same oil, roast chana dal till golden. Add to the plate. Add 1 tsp of oil to the kadai and add pepper corns & red chilli. Saute till pepper starts to crackle. Keep the flame medium and saute till most of the pepper corns crackle. Lastly add the hing, mix well and switch off the flame. Crackling helps to reduce the spiciness of pepper. So do it patiently without burning. Add this to the dal plate. Let everything cool down. Add the required salt and grind to a fine powder. If adding garlic, chop it finely and add it while grinding. Transfer the powder to an air tight box. Stays good for 2 weeks. After that the flavor of pepper gets reduced. Enjoy !

Note

I have shared the recipe for small quantity. Try this one if you are making for first time. If you like the taste, increase the quantity proportionately. Do not add more red chilli. The flavor of pepper should be dominant in this recipe. This podi tastes great when mixed with ghee. But we have it with sesame oil to reduce the calories. This podi is suitable for idli, dosa, wheat flour dosa and ragi dosa. It doesn’t taste good with rice.

Enjoy this yummy idli podi with idli & dosa adding ghee or sesame oil !

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Thandai Masala Powder Recipe – How To Make Thandai Powder At Home

Thandai is a very popular drink in North India that is mainly served during Holi festival and Maha Shivratri. This drink is the best coolant for body with lots of  health benefits as it is prepared with the combination of nuts, whole spices and milk. Yesterday my neighbor called me to enquire whether we get readymade thandai masala powder or thandai syrup at shops nearby my house. I browsed for some good brands and told her to get Patanjali or Haldirams Thandai powder as these are the well known names to me. She searched in shops but couldn’t get it. So I thought of preparing homemade thandai masala powder and share with her. 

As I had already shared the recipe of thandai from scratch, I know making at home is very easy. I used to make it regularly for every Maha Shivaratri festival along with our South Indian style arisi vella puttu and offer to Lord Shiva. This year I was planning to make the same following my recipe. But now after my neighbor’s suggestion, I wanted to make and store this homemade thandai masala in advance and prepare it quickly on Shivrathri day. I watched some You tube video recipes and adapted this recipe.

I have also watched a video from BBD TV’s travel escapades in which the preparation of thandai with & without bhang from a popular shop in Ujjain was shown.I found it very useful. For this thandai powder recipe, I could see many variations across the web.Some recipes are very simple with just 4 ingredients and some recipes are with bhang as well. But in this recipe, I have not used Bhang. Basically bhang balls are made from hemp seeds and leaves which are washed, cleaned and grinded to a smooth paste. But it should be used in minimum quantity as over dosage induces psychosis, excitement, uncooperativeness and hallucinations.

This is a very simple thandai masala that can be prepared with easily available ingredients. I have used Khus Khus in this recipe. I know its banned in some of the countries. In that case, feel free to skip it.Yesterday I made thandai using this powder and it came out very well. It was refreshing and we loved it a lot. I have passed some of this powder to my neighbor. I hope her family will like it too. Ok, lets see how to make Thandai masala powder at home with step by step pictures.

Thandai masala powder recipe

How to make thandai masala powder recipe at home

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Drinks Recipes

Serves: 12

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Almond/Badam - 1/4 cup Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp Melon seeds - 2 tbsp Khus khus – 3 tbsp Fennel seeds – 2 tbsp ( OR cumin seeds) Pepper corns – 1 tsp Cardamom – 8 nos Nutmeg - Very small piece (optional) Saffron threads - Few Sugar - 1/2 – 3/4 cup Dried Rose petals - 1 tbsp or 15 nos OR rose essence - 1 tsp Pista – 1 tbsp (Optional , I used it) To make thandai ( For one serving) Boiled milk – 1 cup ( At room temperature, use full fat milk) Thandai powder – 1 tbsp ( Adjust) Ice cubes – few ( 2 nos)

HOW TO MAKE THANDAI POWDER - METHOD

Take all the ingredients for thandai masala and keep it ready. Grind them to a fine powder using a mixie. Sieve it and again grind the coarse ones. Use the remaining leftovers for making fresh thandai or lassi. Mix the powder well with a spoon and store in a box. Thandai masala powder is ready ! This powder can be stored for 2 months in an air tight box. Use clean spoon to handle. To make Thandai : Boil thick, full cream milk and let it cool down to room temperature. In a wide bowl, put few ice cubes, add 2 cups of milk and 1 tbsp ( i.e 5-6 tsp) thandai powder. Mix well. Check for taste and add more sugar or thandai powder if needed. Strain it using a cloth strainer( Tea strainer) and serve it. If you want to serve later, refrigerate it till use. It tastes the best only when served chilled. The more the standing time, the more tasty it would be! Straining is more important.Do not forget to strain the milk after adding thandai powder. Enjoy !

Note

There is no hard and fast rule in the quantity of ingredients for masala. You can reduce or increase it as per your like. I felt pistachios are not needed as it was not mentioned in the Ujjain video.Still I had used just 1/2 tbsp of it. Do not add more. It would dominate the other ingredients in flavor. Do not add more pepper corns. The color of thandai is usually sandal in color if its made without bhang. It looks green when bhang is added. Adjust the amount of cardamom and fennel as they are the flavoring ingredients for thandai. Straining is more important. Do not forget to strain the milk after adding thandai powder.

Try this Thandai powder at home and enjoy this refreshing drink instantly at your will !

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Idli Sambar Powder Recipe – How To Make Hotel Idli Sambar Podi

Homemade idli sambar powder – Idli sambar can be prepared in many ways. But most of the people like hotel idli sambar ( restaurant style idli sambar) as it has got a special flavor.Usually my Mom & MIL makes Idli sambar adding freshly ground spices in addition to our usual Kuzhambu milagai thool/sambar powder just like hotels. My mom calls this powder “Mel podi” in Tamil. My MIL makes this sambar podi every time freshly whereas my mom makes this powder in bulk quantity and stock it for a week. She adds this powder to idli sambar and lunch sambar as well. Its a very simple recipe with just 5 ingredients. Sendhil loves hotel style idli sambar as it is more flavorful than the plain idli sambar. But most of the time especially during busy morning hours, I make a simple onion sambar for idli without adding mel podi. Recently my mom suggested me to grind and store this idli sambar powder and use it whenever needed. I gave a try and it really helped me for quick & easy cooking. Its smell & flavor lasted for more than 2 weeks even though I made in small quantity. If you have leftover lunch sambar in hand, you can add this powder to convert into idli sambar. Check out Notes section in this post. I have shared in detail.Friends, do try this idli sambar powder and make restaurant style sambar at home easily. Lets see how to make it.

Idli sambar powder - Hotel idli sambar podi

How to make idli sambar powder at home for making hotel style sambar

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Homemade powders

Serves: 1/2 cup

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

Chitra Ganapathy

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp - 15ml : 1 tsp - 5ml Dhania/Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp (heaped) Chana dal - 2 tbsp Methi seeds/ Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp Red chilli - 5 nos ( I used byadge & guntur chillies for color & spiciness) Cooking oil - 1 tsp For variations you can few curry leaves while roasting. Dry grated coconut can be added while grinding but not more than 1 tsp.

METHOD

In a small kadai, heat oil. Add the methi seeds, when it starts to sizzle add the chana dal, pinched red chillies, cumin seeds and dhania seeds.Roast everything in low to medium flame. Make sure no dals or spices are burnt. Let them cool down. Grind everything to a fine powder. Store in an air tight box and use it whenever needed. This sambar powder stays good for one week if stored in an air tight box. Please refer my HOTEL IDLI SAMBAR post for the procedure of making sambar. In that recipe, I have shared the ingredients of spices to roast & grind. No need to make that powder. Instead add 1 tbsp of  this sambar powder at the end.Give a boil.Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. If you have left over lunch sambar in hand, you can easily convert that into hotel style idli sambar. For that : Season mustard seeds, cumin and curry leaves in ghee ( Add chopped small onions if needed). Add 1 tbsp of this idli powder in the ghee,saute for a second and add to the left over sambar. Dilute 1 tbsp of besan flour in 1/4 cup of water. Add to the sambar. Mix everything well. Let the sambar boil nicely. Check for taste and add more salt or sambar powder if needed.Enjoy ! Note : In this recipe, I have used less number of chillies. So I add either green chilli or add some sambar powder or red chilli powder for extra spiciness. So please add more chilli powder or chillies as per you need. Try to prepare this sambar 1-2 hours before serving. This standing time helps for all the flavor to enhance while serving. You can use this powder for making sambar 3-4 times.

Try this homemade idli sambar powder and share your feedback with me.

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Thalippu Vengaya Vadagam Recipe – Kari Vadagam

I am a big fan of Vengaya Vadagam/ Small onion vadagam since my childhood.This younger generation people may not be aware of this traditional recipe and slowly its forgotton by our people :( When I was young, my dad used to buy a packet of thalippu vengaya vadagam from an Iyer mess every year during summer. My mom adds it in Thuvaram paruppu sadam, Kootan choru and we love to have it as a side dish for curd rice too. . After marriage, I was amazed to see my MIL making Kari vadagam/Vengaya vadam on her own. She says its a very simple recipe preparation and can be easily made at home. Our job is to just mix and make balls. Sun will do the remaining part, she says funnily. Since Sendhil is not fond of vadagam, she stopped making it for some years. This year, I requested her to make this yummy onion vadagam for me. Last week we prepared it in Bangalore. I felt the chopping part and sun drying part takes more time. But the end result will be worth the wait. It came out great with wonderful aroma while frying. Iam enjoying it by making vadagam chutney/thogayal and use it for tempering Vatha kuzhambu and Kootu varieties. Nowadays my lunch smells divine because of this vadagam. You too give a try and feel proud to make your own homemade vengaya vadagam recipe. Lets see how to make this easy and yummy Thalippu Vadagam/ Kari vadam at home.
Check out my Koozh Vadam, Killu vadam and Javvarisi vadam too.

Vengaya vadagam recipe

How to make thalippu vengaya vadagam recipe

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Homemade

Serves: 15 balls

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 10 days

Total time: 10days30Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Small onion/Shallots - 1.5 cups ( chopped) Garlic cloves - 1/2 cup ( Chopped) Chopped curry leaves - 2 tbsp White urad dal - 1/4 cup ( soak in water for 30 minutes) Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp Toor dal - 1 tbsp Cumin seeds - 1.5 tbsp Methi seeds -3/4 tbsp Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Salt - as needed Castor oil - 2 tsp Cooking oil - to deep fry vadam after drying

METHOD

Wash and soak the white urad dal for 30 minutes.Wash and peel the small onion and curry leaves.Chop it finely. Peel and chop garlic cloves. Measure them in a cup. Take everything in a wide bowl. Mix well. To this add, mustard seeds, methi seeds, toor dal, cumin seeds, salt, red chilli powder. Mix well using your hands. Drain the water from the soaked urad dal and grind it coarsely without adding water. Dal should be coarse. Now mix the dal with onion mixture tightly and make balls of small lemon size. Let it dry under the Sun for a day.Coarse Urad dal paste acts as a binding agent here. So do not skip this step, If you wish, you can spread the mixture as it is without making balls and sun dry them. In that case, take the required amount of dried vadagam, keep in a separate bottle and use it. Reserve the remaining vadagam without touching often because there are chances of getting worms quickly.  On the same day night, take the partially dried balls. Break into crumbs and add castor oil to it. Mix well and make tight balls again. Let it dry over night under the fan. The next day, sun dry the balls.As the balls dry, it will loosen. So roll it tight everyday. Repeat the same process until the balls dry completely and becomes black in color. It will take nearly one week to 10 days to for the balls to dry depending on the weather/heat. For me, it took nearly 10 days. My MIL says it takes a week in Salem. After the balls are dried well, store in an air tight box. For adding this gravy, take one ball, break into small pieces and fry in oil until it emits a nice aroma. Add to vatha kuzhambu, Kootu and poricha kuzhambu recipes. Enjoy !

Try these yummy, flavorful vadagam at home and enjoy your lunch !

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Bisi Bele Bath Powder Recipe-Karnataka Style Homemade Bisibelebath powder

Authentic Karanataka style Bisi bele bath recipe is in my try list for years i should say.I have tasted it in few restaurants here and in some of my friend’s houses.But still i have not yet tasted this awesome bisi bele bath in its birth place,yes in MTR restaurant. I had been to MTR once with my friends but unfortunately i couldn’t taste bisi bele bath in their full meals menu. Instead they served some veg pulao which i didn’t like it too.I found from the waiter that bisi bele bath is available only on Sundays. Long back i had shared South Indian style bisi bele bath recipe but that’s just our Tamil nadu version.So i always look for the recipe of authentic Karnataka style bisibelebath and i have tried quite a few of them from various blogs.Of course they tasted good but still i felt something was missing. When i asked to share the correct recipe to my school moms friends,some of them told me to use MTR bisi bele bath powder (BBB powder) but Nagalakshmi shared her family recipe with powder. Based on the ingredients she told & by watching an youtube video, i tried this bisi bele bath powder at home for the first time.I also prepared bisibelebath rice using this fresh,flavorful,homemade powder. It came out really well & the taste was awesome!!It was just upto the mark as i expected.We all loved it especially my in-laws.So this powder is the star ingredient to make a perfect bisi bele bath. Hence i wanted to showcase this powder recipe by making a separate post.Once u make n store this powder, u can prepare bisi bele bath in just 15 minutes.Ok,lets see how to make bisi bele bath powder at home easily.Sorry,i couldn’t take stepwise pictures as i was in a hurry.I will try to update this post with step by step pictures.My next target is to make a perfect vangibath powder. Hope I will do it very soon.

Please check out my Bisi bele bath recipe using this powder.

Bisi bele bath powder recipe

Homemade bisi ble bath powder recipe - Fresh n flavorful !

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Homemade powders

Serves: 3/4 cup

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Chana dal - 2 tbsp Urad dal – 2 tbsp Coriander seeds/ dhania – 4 tbsp Jeera/ cumin seeds – 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Methi/ fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp Poppy seeds/ gasagase – 1/2 tbsp 1 inch cinnamon sticks – 4 nos Cloves – 3 nos Marati moggu/Caper – 1 no( optional) Dry byadgi red chillis - 15 nos Red chillies (smooth skin/guntur) - 10-15 nos Cooking oil – 1 tbsp

METHOD

Take all the ingredients given above.Heat oil in a kadai and roast all the ingredients in medium flame till u get a nice aroma.Roast it patiently in medium flame else the ingredients may get burnt. Once they cooled down,grind them in a mixie jar.Store in an air tight box after the powder is completely cooled down.Use a clean,dry spoon to handle.

Note

Adding byadge red chillies is a must to get the nice red color in bisi bele bath powder as well as rice.So do not skip it. Add more red chillies based on the spice level u need Stays good for a month as we have not used coconut.But use clean,dry spoon while u handle.Also store in an air tight box.

Make n store this flavorful homemade bisi bele bath in an air tight box.Stays good for a month !

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