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KANDA GADDA BAKSHALU

✇mycurryveda
By: Shravani Abhishek

Kanda gadda bakshalu is an authentic sweet potato stuffed flatbread savored on Maha Shivaratri in the Telangana region. These Bakshalu have an utterly creamy, healthy and divine sweet potato stuffing, and my kid absolutely loved it. Sweet potatoes are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Additionally, they support Healthy Vision, enhance Brain Function and Boost Your Immune System.

Sweet potatoes have a dense fiber composition, and it satiates the hunger for longer periods. Hence, in Indian subcontinent we widely use it as fasting food. On Maha Shivaratri, majority of devotees observe a special fast consisting largely of fruits along with plenty of water and milk which keeps them hydrated. And sweet potatoes are fast friendly, filling and healthy. So these Bakshalu makes a great recipe to make on this coming Maha Shivaratri.

Significance of Maha Shivaratri

The festival of ‘Maha Shivaratri’ which literally translates to ‘the greatest night of Shiva’ is one of the most revered Hindu festivals across the Indian subcontinent. The Temples across the nation witness an outpour of devotees who gather around the Shiva Linga with their abundant offerings to appease Lord Shiva. Prayers and vigils go on throughout the night of Maha shivaratri. But what makes the festival special is its characteristic fasting or the Maha Shivaratri Vratam. The vratam marks a very high significance for every Shiva devotee, with some opting to even go on fasting through the day without a single drop of water. But majority of the devotees observe a special fast consisting largely of fruits along with plenty of water and milk which keeps them hydrated.

What are Bakshalu?

Bakshalu are a traditional delicacy, that we make on festivals or special occasions as an offering to the deity. These bakshalu are stuffed flatbreads, which can be made sweet or savory. In the Telangana region, Bakshalu are a traditional dessert or sweet and it has various stuffings. And stuffings like chana dal, moong dal, sesame seeds, sweet potato, Kova, etc. are used.

Now call this bakshalu poli or Holige, obbattu, bobbatlu, burelu, polelu, vedmi, boli this one dish has many names and avatars across diverse India.

In certain regions of Telangana, people call these Kanda gadda bakshalu as Mouram gadda polelu or mouram gadda bakshalu. This Kanda gadda bakshalu are specially prepared for the Maha Shivaratri festival for the kids, as they are fasting friendly and filling too. 

Ingredients needed for Kanda gadda bakshalu

  • Kanda gadda – Sweet potatoes, they are also known by Mouram gadda, Ratnapuri gadda in the Telangana region. 
  • Jaggery / Sugar – As sweet potatoes alone are sweet enough, we will be using minimal amount of sweetener.
  • Cardamom – this is completely optional
  • Whole wheat flour – You can also use Maida / All purpose flour instead.
  • Oil
  • Ghee

How to prepare this Kanda gadda bakshalu?

 Like every other flatbread, this bakshalu can be either made with Maida/all-purpose flour or Whole wheat flour. And I like to use whole wheat personally as it’s more healthy and that’s what I have grown up eating. So if you prefer using All purpose flour or maida please feel free to use it according to your convenience.

Stuffing – First step steam the sweet potatoes, later mash them with jaggery / sugar, and keep them aside.

Now the kind of sweet potatoes we get in India are quite fibrous and stays firm when boiled or steamed. They doesn’t require any further cooking after steaming them. You can just steam/boil them, peel the skin, mash them with jaggery powder/sugar.

And as I’m staying in the US, the sweet potatoes, which I get here are quite soft, when I steam/boil them they turn very mushy. Hence, I cook the mashed sweet potatoes slightly until they turn firm.

Dough – This bakshalu can be made with two kinds of dough, One is the wet dough that has been soaked in oil for hours and the other is a semi-hard dough that we regularly use to make roti. If you are using slightly firm sweet potatoes that we get in India, I would recommend you to use the firm dough. And if you are using the American variety of sweet potatoes then go for the wet dough.

Is this recipe VEGAN ?

You can skip the ghee part while roasting the Bakshalu or stuffed flatbread to make it vegan-friendly. If you have Gluten-intolerance, please substitute the whole wheat flour with gluten free flour to make these Bakshalu.

Serving suggestion

These Kanda gadda bakshalu/polelu are  traditionally served with warm milk. But a simple drizzle of ghee on warm Bakshalu is good enough for savoring.

Checkout more traditional festive foods and more Telangana delicacies.

Godhuma thalikala payasam

Pappu bakshalu

Nuvvula bakshalu

Vadapappu bellam panakam

Godhuma Nooka sheera

Shegala payasam

Sattu Pindi

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KANDA GADDA BAKSHALU

A divine sweet potato stuffed flatbread, which are utterly delicious, healthy and filling. Makes it a perfect fasting friendly food.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Indian, Telangana
Keyword Bakshalu, Stuffed flatbreads, Vegetarian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 10 Servings
Author Shravani Abhishek

Equipment

  • Griddle
  • Steamer

Ingredients

Stuffing

  • 3 Sweet potatoes
  • ⅓ cup Jaggery powder
  • ¼ tsp Cardamom powder

Dough

  • 1½ cup Whole wheat flour
  • 2 tbsp Oil
  • ½ cup Water *more as needed to make pliable dough

Instructions

Stuffing

  • Heat a steamer, add water in the pan and place the sweet potatoes cut into discs on the steamer rack.
  • Cover the pan and let the sweet potatoes steam until they are soft and mushy. It may take around 15 min. Turn off the heat and let them cool down to room temperature.
  • Later peel the skin of sweet potatoes, mash them and add cardamom powder, jaggery powder/sugar as per your taste preference.
  • If the stuffing is too wet, then cook the mashed sweet potatoes on medium flame until it turns firm.
  • Later divide the stuffing into 10 equal portions, roll them into a ball and keep aside.

Dough

  • In a mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour/APF , tsp of oil and water. Bring everything together and knead until it is soft and pliable.
  • Add 2 tbsp oil and keep it covered for 2 hours. Let it remain soaked in oil. The more it rests in oil the more softer the bakshalu will be.

Let's prepare some KANDA GADDA BAKSHALU now !!

  • Take a silicon sheet/ziploc bag/banana leaf, grease the surface. Take handful of dough and place it.
  • Grease your fingers with oil and flatten the dough with your fingers to form a small circle.
  • Place a small ball of sweet potato stuffing in the center and seal it on all sides forming a small ball.
  • Now flatten the ball with the stuffing inside to form a thin Baksham.

Roasting the KANDA GADDA BAKSHALU

  • Grease the tawa slightly with ghee and heat it. Now invert the silicon mat/ziploc bag/banana leaf with the Baksham over the tawa. After a few seconds, gently remove the silicon mat/ziploc bag/banana leaf.
  • Now cook the Baksham both the sides until golden brown on medium heat.
    Once cooked, apply ghee all over the surface and remove from heat. Now Kanda gadda baksham is ready to be served. Enjoy it warm.

Serving suggestions

  • Serve hot Kanda Gadda bakshalu with some warm milk or drizzled with ghee.

Notes

  • If you are using the American variety of sweet potatoes, they tend to turn mushy or sticky when steamed/boiled. So cook the stuffing on medium flame until it turns slightly firm.

 If you’ve tried this recipe, please share your valuable feedback in the comments below. Also you can Tag your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda  or on Facebook . Also follow @taste.of.telangana on Instagram for more traditional recipes, culture and stories.

The post KANDA GADDA BAKSHALU appeared first on mycurryveda.

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BREAD BONDA

✇mycurryveda
By: Shravani Abhishek

 Bread Bonda is a deep-fried Indian snack with spicy potato filling wrapped in a moist bread slice and deep-fried until crisp and golden brown. This is one of the nostalgic tea time snack I have grown up eating.  I remember tasting this irresistible snack at home, when amma saw it on a cooking show and tried at home. We all loved it, although we love eating traditional Aloo bonda that we grew up eating, this bread bonda has surely made its special place in our hearts.

What is Bread Bonda ?

Bread Bonda, an indulgent deep-fried snack, which is utterly crispy bread on the outside and flavor-packed soft filling on the inside. This dish is a twist to the traditional snack, Aloo Bonda which is also known Potato Vada, is flavor-packed with Indian spices. That one bite of these hot and crispy Aloo Bondas will surely make you fall in love with them. 

While You find Aloo Bonda in almost all the tiffin centers and in Many Indian restaurants across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka popularly served for tea time snack. Bread bonda is more kind of made only at homes. This tea time snack will surely make your day brighter on rainy days. Also, this bread bonda makes a great snack to serve for guests or get togethers. 

What all ingredients do we need ?

For the Covering: Bread slices

For the Stuffing

  • Potatoes
  • Spices – Turmeric powder, green chilies, salt
  • Onion
  • Curry leaves
  • Cilantro
  • Lemon/lime
  • Mustard seeds
  • Cumin seeds
  • Ginger
  • Garlic

You can adjust the amount of green chilies, as per your taste. If making for kids, you can avoid adding green chilies and add some grated paneer or cheese.

Please check out more delicious festive treats and tea-time snacks from my blog.

Bebberla garelu

Chegodilu

Odappalu

Makka garelu

Palm jaggery whole wheat biscuits

Perugu wada

Vegan millet cutlet

Vegan potstickers

Print

BREAD BONDA

An indulgent deep-fried Indian snack with crispy exterior of bread and soft spicy potato filling.
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Indian
Keyword plant based, Tea time snacks
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 10 Bondas
Author Shravani Abhishek

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker
  • Deep frying pan / Kadai / Wok
  • Skillet

Ingredients

For the covering

  • 10 slices Bread

For the stuffing

  • 3 Potato boiled and peeled
  • 2 tbsp Cooking oil
  • 1 Onion
  • ½ tsp Mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp Cumin seeds
  • 1 inch Ginger minced
  • 3 cloves Garlic optional, minced
  • ½ tsp Turmeric powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 Green chilies finely chopped
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 3 tbsp Cilantro finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Lemon / lime juice

For deep-frying

  • Frying Oil

Instructions

Prepping

  • Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and keep them aside.
  • Chop the onions finely, coarsely mince the ginger and garlic, finely chop the green chilies, cilantro.

Let's prepare some flavor-packed Potato stuffing

  • Heat a wide skillet, add oil and once its hot add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them splutter.
  • Now add in minced ginger minced garlic(if using), curry leaves, chopped green chilies and fry for until raw smell of ginger fades away.
  • Now add in finely chopped onions and cook until they turn translucent.
  • Add in turmeric powder, salt to taste and give everything a good mix. Gently mash the potatoes with your hands and add them to the onion mixture.
  • Give everything a really good mix and cook until have absorbed all the flavors.
  • Time to add in finely chopped cilantro, mix it and turn off the heat.
  • Now add in lemon/lime juice and mix until everything is well combined.
  • Let this stuffing cool down to room temperature. Later divide the stuffing into equal portions and roll them into balls.

Time to make Bread bonda now!!

  • Heat the wok / kadai, add oil enough for deep frying.
    Note : Use oil suitable for frying like sunflower or peanut or canola.
  • Now trim off the sides of the bread neatly using a knife. Give the bread, a quick dip on one side and take it out.
  • Take a broad vessel(wide enough to dip the bread) and add water say 1 inch high. Give the bread, a quick dip on one side and take it out.
  • Keep the rolled potato ball on the dry side of the bread and cover it as you squeeze it and roll into ball/ bondas. While shaping, make sure to squeeze out the water too.
  • Place the rolled bread bondas on a plate until oil is hot enough for deep-frying.
    Note : Oil shouldn't be fuming hot, else the inside remains uncooked and the outside burns easily.
  • Gently slide few rolled bread bondas into the oil at a time and keep turning gently with ladle to ensure even browning. Cook in medium flame to get crispy outside. 
  • Drain the deep-fried bread bondas on to a paper towel. 

Serving suggestions

  • Serve hot bread bondas with the dipping condiments of your choice. We love to have it with szechuan sauce, but these taste great with ketchup or mint chutney too.
  • Dig in and Enjoy. Bon Appétit.

Notes

  • If you are making for the kids, adjust the spice level according to their taste preference.
  • If you are comfortable with using diary, then add some grated paneer or cheese to make it more fun for the kids.
  • For added nutrition, you can also add in some steamed veggies like carrots, beans, green peas, beetroot to the stuffing.

If you’ve tried this recipe, please share your valuable feedback in the comments below. Also you can Tag your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda  or on Facebook . 

The post BREAD BONDA appeared first on mycurryveda.

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