Punugulu

Name: Punugulu
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian, Andhra Pradesh
Ingredients: 2 cups Idli or dosa batter, fermented and thick; 2 tbsp Rice flour; 1 Onion, finely chopped; 2 Green chillies, finely chopped; 1 inch Ginger, finely chopped; 1 sprig Curry leaves, chopped; 1 tsp Cumin seeds; ¼ tsp Baking soda; ½ tsp Salt; 2 cups Oil, for frying; ½ cup Roasted peanuts; 3 Green chillies; 1 tsp Tamarind pulp; 2 cloves Garlic; ½ tsp Salt

Vijayawada's street-side fritters: crisp outside, soft inside, made from leftover idli-dosa batter and eaten with peanut chutney.

Prep 10 min · Cook 20 min · Total 30 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Fritters

2 cups Idli or dosa batter, fermented and thick
2 tbsp Rice flour
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Green chillies, finely chopped
1 inch Ginger, finely chopped
1 sprig Curry leaves, chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
¼ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Salt
2 cups Oil, for frying

Peanut chutney

½ cup Roasted peanuts
3 Green chillies
1 tsp Tamarind pulp
2 cloves Garlic
½ tsp Salt

Method

Make the chutney. Grind the peanuts, chillies, tamarind, garlic and salt with about 1/2 cup water to a thick, smooth chutney.
Mix the batter. Stir the rice flour, onion, chillies, ginger, curry leaves, cumin, soda and salt into the batter. It should be thick enough to drop from a spoon in a blob.
Fry. Heat the oil to medium-hot. Drop small spoonfuls in, not too many at once, and fry, turning, until deep golden and crisp, about 4 minutes a batch.
Serve. Drain and eat hot with the peanut chutney.

Tips

Batter that is three or four days old makes the lightest punugulu. If the oil is too hot they'll brown before cooking through.