The weather is getting cold with frequent downpours…the air is crisp with frosty bite, the falling leaves……typical autumn weather. This is the perfect time your soul needs to feast on something warm, hot and spicy. How about some Challa Punugulu with a cup of hot Ginger Chai ? Yes, I’m talking about the very famous road side snack in Vijayawada and few Coastal districts of Andhra. Today I’m here to share Andhra Challa Punugulu Recipe.
Punugulu (or Punukulu), a deep fried snack, crisp from outside and soft from inside is a part of Andhra street food and is served with a range of chutneys. I have already shared Punugulu recipe with idli-dosa batter, today’s its another variation. There are no hard rules to follow in this Andhra Challa Punugulu Recipe, the addition of ingredients and quantities is purely personal choice and left to suit your taste buds.
The magical word “Street Food” brings out the foodie in everyone. The mouth-watering Indian street foods sold by the hustling street ambiance on mobile stalls lined across every nook and corner of your city gives it an extra kick and becomes hard to resist. The beauty of Indian street food lies in its variety. We are very fortunate….there are options galore!!
Street food that we love munching on could prove unhealthy at times. The hygiene may be questionable at some places as well as the quality of ingredients. So, it’s best if we can recreate the same in our own kitchen….at least we know what’s going into the food and are able to use good quality ingredients!!
So friends, without further ado, off to Andhra Challa Punugulu Recipe!!
Steps to follow for Andhra Challa Punugulu Recipe :
DOSA BATTER: Only for dosas!!
A quick look at how I make this batter. But, you can click here to have a look at the process.
In short, Soak 1 cup urad dal and 2 cups of raw rice separately (or together) with enough water for 5-6 hours. Drain the water from the soaked rice and dal. Grind rice and dal with little water to a smooth paste. Ferment the dosa batter overnight or at least 8-10 hours. It will rise on fermentation. Yet to post the recipe for Dosa batter….will post soon!! We use the same batter to prepare outer covering for Poornalu.
You can prepare punugulu with fermented as well as unfermented batter. Today’s recipe is with unfermented dosa batter.
Let’s start the process:
- To the dosa batter, add salt and cooking soda. Mix well.
- Now, add semolina, maida (all purpose flour) and yoghurt. Semolina gives a nice crisp to the punugulu.
NOTE:
Scroll down to the recipe card at the end to get the exact measurements of individual ingredients.
- Add cumin seeds, finely chopped curry leaves, green chillies and coriander to the batter and mix well.
- If the consistency of the batter is too thick, add some more yoghurt or a little water and mix well. If it’s runny, add a little rice flour or a little semolina (not more than 1-2 teaspoons).
- Check and adjust salt if needed.
- Close with a lid and set aside for 20 minutes.
NOTE:
You can also include chopped onions if you wish to. But, add them just before frying, otherwise they will leave water and the batter will become thinner on resting.
Let’s deep fry Punugulu:
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan over high heat. Once oil is hot enough, reduce to medium heat.
- Pinch out small amounts of batter with your fingers and drop into oil or use a spoon to drop a teaspoon of batter. Usually these are as small as marbles…smaller the size, the better.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan with punugulu because they puff up and will need space.
- Keep turning all sides while frying for even cooking and browning. Fry them till golden brown and remove them.
- Drain using a slotted spoon and transfer these to absorbent tissue to remove any excess oil.
- Repeat the frying step until the batter is completely done.
- Serve hot Challa Punugulu with your favourite chutney. It tastes great with coconut chutney, peanut chutney, onion chutney or ginger chutney. Today I have served with tomato chutney. But my personal favourite combination is peanut chutney or ginger chutney!!
- You can also serve with some finely chopped onions, sprinkle some karam podi (or idli podi) and squeeze a dash of lemon…..Enjoy with a cup of hot chai.…it’s like heaven on a plate 🙂
Andhra Challa Punugulu Recipe | Punugulu With Dosa Batter and Maida | Punukulu
Ingredients
- 2 cups Dosa Batter
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Cooking Soda
- 2 Tablespoons Semolina
- 1 Cup Maida All Purpose Flour
- 3/4-1 Cup Yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 3-4 Green chillies finely chopped
- 1 sprig Curry leaves finely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Coriander Leaves finely chopped
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- To the Dosa Batter, add salt and cooking soda. Mix well.
- Now, add semolina, maida (all purpose flour) and yoghurt.
- Add cumin seeds, finely chopped curry leaves, green chillies and coriander to the batter and mix well.
- If the consistency of the batter is too thick, add some more yoghurt or water and mix well. Check and adjust salt if needed. Close with a lid and set aside for 20 minutes.
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan over high heat. Once oil is hot enough, reduce to medium heat.
- Pinch out small amounts of batter with your fingers and drop into oil or use a spoon to drop a teaspoon of batter. Don’t overcrowd the pan with punugulu.
- Keep turning all sides while frying for even cooking and browning. Fry them till golden brown and remove them.
- Drain using a slotted spoon and transfer these to absorbent tissue to remove any excess oil.
- Repeat the frying step till the batter is done.
- Serve with your favourite chutney.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Adjust spice levels with green chillies.
- You can prepare Punugulu with fresh or fermented dosa batter or idli dosa batter.
- Adding semolina to the batter gives a crispy punugulu.
- We can also make the batter without adding maida.
- Prepare plain punugulu by adding only salt and cumin seeds to the batter.
- You can also add some pepper and coconut pieces to the batter for a variation.
- You can also include onions, spinach, any greens or shredded cabbage, carrots for additional nutritional values.
- If the batter turns runny, you can add few spoons of rice flour, but do not add too much, otherwise punugulu turn hard and rubbery.
- The key to delicious deep fried punugulu is making them less oily, yet crispy. This can be achieved only by making the batter in the right consistency. Check by making few fritters, if they are hard you need to add little water. if they are not crispy or they turn out oily and soggy, it means the batter is still runny.
- The prep time doesn't include the preparation of dosa batter.
Hope you enjoyed Andhra Challa Punugulu Recipe!!
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Wishing you all a very Happy Festive Season 🙂
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma.
