Day 2 of the blogging marathon and my theme is “Mini Bites”.

Are you’ll wondering how ‘low calorie’ and ‘bonda’ go together? Thanks to the kuzhi paniyaram (pancake puff) pan, it does. I absolutely hate deep frying and try to avoid it as much as possible, but that means my kids are being deprived of the deep fried goodies which I grew up with. Not fair right? I have tried baking some snacks, but it was not the same and K was not happy with the results and neither was I. So my search continued which was when I came across this pan in a lot of food blogs. I was blown away looking at the awesome low calorie thayir (yogurt) vadais, masala vadais and aloo bondas being made in this pan. Ever since I bought this pan I have been using it to get a low calorie version of a lot of Indian snacks.

Talking about bondas, the only ones I knew were the plain one and the aloo bonda. Thanks to food blogging and the events, my brain is working overtime these days . Ever since I announced HLI – Broccoli, I wanted to make something different with broccoli. Knowing that tofu is a very good binding agent I decided to go with broccoli-tofu combo along with some spices. The result was terrific and my kid loved it. Another healthy recipe to the collection.

Ingredients – For filling
1/2 pack of firm tofu (10oz approximately)
2 cups broccoli florets chopped finely
2 green chillies
1/4 tsp chilly powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt
1/4 tsp turmeric

Ingredients – For the batter
1/2 cup gram flour (besan / channa flour)
1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp chilly powder
Salt

Yields : About 20 small bondas.

Method
Press the tofu to remove as much moisture as possible. For this I place it on a plate, cover with another plate. Then place something heavy on the plate. I use a couple of cans. Leave for at least 30 minutes.

Take broccoli in a food processor.

Chop finely.

Next take the pressed tofu and green chillies in the food processor.

Blend well. Take in a bowl.

To the tofu add the chopped broccoli.

Add the spices. Chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin seeds, salt and turmeric.

Mix well.

Form small balls and keep aside.

Next get the batter ready. Take the ingredients for batter in a bowl.

Add little water to the mixture to form a thick batter. I used around 4-5 oz of water. We need to coat the balls in this batter, so don’t make it too thin.

Heat the kuzhi paniyaram pan. Add 1/2 tsp of oil to each groove. Dip the ball in batter and coat all sides. Place the dipped ball in the groove. Make sure the oil is hot before adding the ball.

Repeat for other grooves. Cook on medium heat to avoid the balls from becoming black.

After few minutes slowly tilt the ball with the spoon and flip it. I flipped it roughly after about 3 minutes. Wait for the base to set before flipping. Don’t flip it too early or else the batter will stick to the pan and become messy.

That is it. Simple and low calorie broccoli tofu bondas ready. We had it with a side of ketchup and coriander chutney. There was absolutely no compromise in taste and the outside was crisp and inside was soft.

Enjoy!

Tips
1. Play around with spices. Tofu is bland and can be spiced any way we please.
2. Broccoli can also be steamed and added. Drain out any water content before mixing.

Check out what other BM Marathoners are cooking.

Sending this to
HLI-Broccoli started by Kalyani and hosted by me.
Let’s Cookby Radhika.