Kara boondi is a crunchy and spicy South Indian snack made with gram flour pearls, fried peanuts, cashews and fried curry leaves. Here is the perfect basic boondi recipe along with South Indian spicy boondi and North Indian namkeen boondi with step-by-step photos!
In this post, I have shared the recipes of basic Boondi recipe along with South Indian Kara boondi recipe and North Indian style namkeen boondi recipes with step by step photo and troubleshooting tips.
Kara boondi and omapodi are Raksha’s most favorite snacks recipes. So we used to buy them from snacks shops very often. Recently we bought a pack of colorful kara boondi from Lakshmi Sweets. We call this as muttai kara boondhi in Tamil as it looks round in shape.
You can also use this to make crunchy South Indian Madras Mixture for Diwali.
For every Diwali, I used to make oma podi. But the colorful and spicy boondi tempted me to give a try. So I prepared Kara boondi recipe at home for the first time. I have tried it thrice since yesterday. First I made boondi adding besan flour, rice flour and cooking soda just like my bajji recipe. It came out crispy, crunchy but it was oily too. So this morning, I again tried it by watching Nisha Madhulika and Vahchef’s basic boondi recipe video. The recipe was so simple with just 2 ingredients. When I tried it, I was extremely happy with the results. It was so crunchy and not oily at all. I was very happy that I learnt how to make perfect boondi recipe without tails or flat boondi. This is an all rounder recipe.
By following this recipe, you can make sweet boondi, boondi ladoo, South Indian kara boondi / Spicy boondi mixture (Tamil nadu style), North Indian style namkeen boondi, boondi raita and boondi chaat as well. You can make so many yummy teatime boondi snacks. I too made it colorful like in shops. Raksha and Sendhil loved it a lot. We enjoyed it with Sambar rice and munched it during our teatime.
Now let us see how to make boondi recipe at home along with the recipes of South Indian style Kara boondi and North Indian style Boondi namkeen with step by step pictures!
Quick Notes for US & Abroad Kitchens
- Batter Consistency: Whisk the besan batter vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and lump-free. The batter should flow in a continuous ribbon off a spoon so pearls drop naturally through the slotted ladle without spreading flat.
- Ladle Distance & Dropping: Hold the boondi jhar or slotted ladle approximately 4 inches (10 cm) above the oil. Holding too low flattens the boondi, while holding too high can create droplets with tails.
- Stovetop Heat Control: On electric coil or glass-top stoves, keep the burner on steady medium heat. Fry in small batches so the oil temperature does not drop suddenly.
- Warm Toss Seasoning: Toss the freshly fried boondi with spices while it is still warm from the kadai so the chili powder and salt coat every pearl evenly without settling at the bottom.
Kara Boondi Recipe (Spicy Boondi / Boondi Namkeen)
Ingredients
Basic boondi recipe
- 1 cup Besan flour (fine variety) (approx. 100 g / 3.5 oz)
- 1 tbsp Rice flour optional (approx. 10 g / 0.35 oz)
- 1 ½ tsp Cooking oil (approx. 7.5 ml / 0.25 fl oz)
- ½ cup Water + 2 tbsp approx. (approx. 150 ml / 5 fl oz)
- pinch Salt
- 2 pinches Food color Green and Red to make colorful boondi
South Indian Kara boondi recipe
- 1 ½ cups Fried Boondi (approx. 75 g / 2.6 oz)
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder
- ⅛ tsp Hing / Asafetida
- 2 pinches Salt as needed
- 1 handful Roasted peanuts and cashews (approx. 30 g / 1 oz)
- few Roasted curry leaves
North Indian Namkeen Boondi recipe
- 1 ½ cups Fried Boondi (approx. 75 g / 2.6 oz)
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder
- ¼ tsp Dhania powder
- ⅛ tsp Chat masala powder
- pinch Amchur powder
- ⅛ tsp Black salt
- ¼ tsp Cumin powder
- 1 handful Roasted peanuts and cashews (approx. 30 g / 1 oz)
- few Roasted curry leaves
Instructions
- Take 1 cup of besan flour in a wide bowl. Mix with rice flour if you are using it. Add 1/4 cup of water and make a thick, lump-free paste using a whisk.
- Again add 1/4 cup of water and make a smooth batter. Add a pinch of salt and cooking oil. Mix well. Batter should be slightly thinner than bajji batter consistency. Beat the batter vigorously with a whisk for 2-3 minutes to make it smooth. If making colorful boondi, divide into 3 parts and add red and green food color.
- Heat oil in a kadai to deep fry the boondi. Dip the back of a spoon in the batter and hold at 10 cm distance from kadai. If the drop rises immediately, oil heat is right. Adjust water if boondi has tails or turns flat.
- Hold the slotted ladle about 10 cm above the hot oil. Pour half a ladle of batter. Let the batter fall as drops automatically without spreading or tapping. Cook only required quantity without crowding.
- Flip the boondi in oil and cook on medium flame until the sound ceases completely. Wipe the slotted ladle with a cloth or tissue before pouring the next batch.
- Deep fry raw peanuts until half done, add broken cashews and curry leaves. Fry till golden and crisp. Drain everything and mix with the colorful boondi.
- For South Indian Kara boondi, take half of the boondi mixture, roasted nuts, curry leaves, red chilli powder, hing and salt. Mix well with a ladle.
- For North Indian style boondi namkeen, take the remaining boondi mixture, roasted nuts, red chilli powder, dhania powder, cumin powder, amchur powder, chat masala, sugar and salt. Mix well with a ladle. Store in an airtight container once cooled.
Notes
- No need to use rice flour or cooking soda in this recipe. If you wish, you can add 1 tsp rice flour for 1 cup of besan. Adding oil is a must.
- The consistency of boondi batter and the distance of ladle you hold from the oil is more important to make perfect round boondi.
- Boondi making comes by practice and with some trial and error. You cannot make perfect roundels every time. Some tails may be here and there but you can make 90% perfect boondi even in your first attempt if you follow the steps carefully.
- Do not forget to beat the batter every time before frying.
Sharing is caring
Enjoy this colorful, crunchy, spicy kara boondi with rice, tea or coffee! Tastes yummy!
Try this South Indian Kara Boondi and North Indian Namkeen boondi recipe and let me know !
Wonderful Chitra..
Thank you Esther :)
Wowie..not a big fan of boondis but this surely temps me to try! Picture perfect boondis :)
Thank you 😊