By Sweet Boondi or Meethi Boondi or Sev Boondi are sweet, tiny deep fried golden pearls made with gram flour/besan and dipped in sugar syrup. Festivities or puja in India is incomplete with out this popular Indian sweet boondi recipe. Sweet boondi is loved by one and all.
Sweet Boondi or Boondi sev makes me nostalgic. So many sweet childhood memories attached with this Indian mithai.
Thursdays used to be a longer Pojo day (even now) at home. As in cleaning the ashon (the shrine), the idols, phooler mala (flower garlands), lots of fruits and mishti (sweets) that baba used to get fresh from the mithai shop in the morning before leaving for work. And he without fail used to get this sev boondi or meethi boondi for his girls. It was kinda our Thursday ritual. You can imagine our Thursday breakfast. This sweet boondi along with salty sev is just a match made in heaven.
Are you a meethi boondi sev lover too??
Oh if you are wondering Thursday used to be a school holiday fo us. 😁
What is Boondi?
Boond means drops and boondi means droplets. Boondi is deep fried drops of gram flour/ besan batter. They are totally gluten free as they are made with chickpea flour/ besan.
There are 2 types of Boondi.
1. Savoury Boondi
Crispy salty boondi that is added to yogurt and enjoyed as a raita. Perfect accompaniment with Biryani.
2. Sweet Boondi (Meethi Boondi)
Freshly deep fried crispy boondi dunked in sweet sugar syrup flavoured with cardamom and saffron. Sweet boondi is made during all Indian festivities as well as prepared as a prasad during puja. It is enjoyed on its own or served with sev. You can also turn them into delicious boondi ladoos by adding some ghee to them.
How to make Boondi?
Boondi is fairly easy to make. The special equipment that is required to make boondi is jharra/metal skimmer with tiny holes which is specially made for making boondi. You can also metal skimmer with small holes which we use to deep frying to make boondi.
We drop a ladle full of batter in hot oil with the help of jharra/ skimmer keeping it approximately 6-8 cms away from the hot oil. Do not keep it further away as it may lead to boondis with tail. Immediately wash the jharra or as I did dip it in a large bowl of water kept by the side (This helps me not rushing to the sink everytime) so that it doesn’t accomodate and become cakey.
Now fry for 30-40 seconds (do not brown them) and with another perforated skimmer remove them from the oil and and transfer on the paper towel.
What should be consistency of the boondi batter?
The boondi batter should be smooth and flowy. And the consistency should be of a crêpe batter not pancake batter.
What should be the consistency of Sugar syrup?
We are not looking for any string consistency for sugar syrup here. Boil the sugar and water for 4-5 minutes or until you feel the sugar syrup starting to become sticky. Turn off the gas as soon as you feel the syrup sticky in between your fingers.
Do we need to add food colouring?
Adding food colour to your boondi batter is totally optional. I like to add as it gives more festive vibe. You can skip it if you wish to.
How long can we store meethi boondi?
You can store it in an airtight container for 1 week. Definitely a make ahead dessert.
Here are few easy and delicious Diwali recipes that you can try.
Shakkarpara Recipe (Shankarpali)
Sweet Boondi (Meethi Boondi)
Sweet Boondi | Meethi Boondi | Sev Bundi
Equipment
- Boondi Jhara/ Skimmer with small holes
- Large deep frying pan
- Large bowl
- whisk
- Ladle/large spoon for pouring batter
- Large perforated ladle for removing the boondis from hot oil
Ingredients
For the Boondi
- 1 1/2 cups Besan/Gram flour/ Chickpea flour Sifted so that there are no lumps
- 1 tsp Oil (veg/sunflower)
- Water to make a flowing batter
- Orange/ green Food colouring (optional)
Sugar Syrup
- 1 1/2 cups Granulated sugar
- 2 cups Water
- 3-4 Green Cardamom Roughly pounded in pestle and motor
Other ingredients
- Oil For Deep frying
- Nuts to garnish (optional)
- Sev to serve (optional)
Instructions
Make the Boondi Batter
- In a large bowl add the sifted gram flour and slowly add in water and whisk until you get a lump free thick batter. Then slowly pour in more water to make it a flowly batter (Just like crepes batter). Finally add a teaspoon of oil to the batter and whisk. Let it rest for 1-2 hours.
- After resting, take some batter in 2 small bowl and add food colouring and mix. (this step is optional)
Make the Sugar Syrup
- Add the sugar in a saucepan along with 2 cups of water and cardamons. Mix the sugar and water and put it to boil. Boil for 4-5 minutes until you the sugar syrup feels a bit sticky. The syrup consistency will be quite thin, We are not looking for any thread consistency. turn off the heat as soon as it feels sticky. Add few drops of lemon juice if you are worried about crystallisation.
To make Boondi
- Heat enough oil in a kadhai/frying pan to deep fry the boondi.Test the oil by adding few drops of batter in the oil. If it sizzles and rises immediately, the oil is ready.
- Now hold the jharra/slotted spoon over the hot oil about 6-8 cms and Pour a ladle spoon of batter over the jharra/slotted spoon. It will fall like raindrops in the hot oil.
- Spread in circular motion. Do not tap the slotted spoon this may lead to some tail wala boondis. Do not over crowd.
- One more important thing and a small tip: never use the same jharra/slotted spoon that was used for dropping the batter in the oil. Wash it immediately or what I did, I kept a large bowl with water near by and dipped the used jharra in the water immediately after using. For the next round just take it out of the water and wipe it dry with a clean cloth or kitchen towel and use. Continue this process every time you pour the batter.
- Fry the boondis for 30-40 seconds until crisp. The boondi should not be brown in colour.
- Now with the help if another perforated skimmer remove them from the oil and and transfer on the paper towel.I fried the coloured boondis in the end.
- Lastly add the boondi in the hot syrup. toss and mix them with the sugar syrup. Now leave them for 1-2 hours for soaking all the syrup.
- Garnish them with some nuts and enjoy them cold or warm or with some sev just how I like it.
I hope you enjoy this Meethi Boondi as much as we do!
You know what guys I would love to see your creations. If you have tried this recipe, just click a pic and tag me @gastronomicbong or #gastronomicbong on Instagram or on Facebook.
Bon Appetit!!!
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