Punugulu With Dosa Batter – How to make Punugulu | Idli Pindi Punugulu – Punugulu Recipe With Leftover Idli Dosa Batter – A deep fried snack and a common street food in Andhra Pradesh that is served with an assortment of chutneys. These crispy fritters are a wonderful snack during monsoon.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2015 and has been updated with Video and replaced with edited pictures for comprehensiveness and freshness.
Idli-dosa batter isn’t just used to make idli, dosa or uthappam. Having leftover idli-dosa batter sitting in you refrigerator and are you bored of eating the same idli or dosa? Are you ready to prepare something quick and easy? It’s such a versatile batter that comes to rescue when you need to whip up quick snacks at a moments notice. Just add chopped onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, cumin seeds to the batter and prepare Punugulu or also known as Punukulu. Today I’m going to share with you my second recipe for the blog hop theme “Appetizers”- Punugulu with idli dosa batter.
What are Punugulu?
Punugulu are deep fried snacks, which are a part of Andhra street food culture. They are served with an assortment of chutneys. This reminds me of the punugulu served with ginger chutney (allam pachadi) in my home town..…They taste out of the world!!…I’m drooling here!!…..There are number of variations to punugulu recipe. They can be made with idli dosa batter, dosa batter or even Black gram (Urad dal) batter. Whatever the method and ingredients you use, punugulu have a golden crisp exterior and a chewy interior with a tang. It is the sourness of the batter that gives punugulu their unique flavour. It’s addictively delicious monsoon snack that is hard to resist! I always prefer rice based fritters like punugulu over chickpea flour based fritters like pakodas, but I don’t make either of them quite often. There is another awesome variation called Challa Punugulu, another popular street foood!!
Which batter to Use for making Punugulu?
You can use dosa batter, idli batter or idli dosa batter. Each of them is different though!! Some make them sour tasting using fermented batter, while some make them with fresh batter. The choice of batter is totally an individual’s choice and comfort. I prefer the sour version using fermented batter. There is no hard and fast rule to follow while preparing batter, except that the batter must not be runny. Add-ons to the batter is also your choice, can just make them plain with cumin or pepper and salt or add chopped green chilies, onions and coriander leaves. You can also add chopped spinach or fenugreek leaves to the batter and they too taste great. I always follow permutation and combination method while cooking depending on my mood. So feel free to add your favourites!!
If you are looking for a healthier version of this snack, try making Kuzhi Paniyaram with the same batter. Btw…Have you checked out my first post for the blog hop “Appetizers” theme – Sweet corn oats masala vada?…If not quickly have a look here !!…..Now off to Punugulu with idli dosa batter recipe!!
STEPS TO FOLLOW FOR
PUNUGULU WITH DOSA BATTER
- Take fermented idli dosa batter in a bowl.
- Chop onions, green chillies, coriander and curry leaves.
- Add these to the batter along with cumin seeds and mix well.
Note: I’m not adding salt since the batter already has salt in it. If required you can include salt depending on the batter (With/without salt) you are using.
Back to the recipe for Punugulu with Idli Dosa batter:
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan over high heat. Once oil is hot enough, reduce to medium heat.
- Pinch out small amount of batter mixed above, shape the batter to any shape with your fingers and drop into oil or use a spoon to drop a tablespoon of batter.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan with punugulu.
- Keep turning all sides while frying for even cooking and browning.
- Drain using a slotted spoon and transfer these to absorbent tissue to remove any excess oil.
- Repeat the frying step till you finish the batter.
- Serve hot Punugulu with your favourite chutney. It tastes great with coconut chutney, peanut chutney, onion chutney, coriander mint chutney or sweet and sour tomato chutney. Today I have served with tomato chutney. But my personal favourite combination is peanut chutney or coconut chutney!!
Tips and Tricks to make perfect Punugulu with Idli Dosa batter:
- If the batter turns runny, usually many people add few spoons of rice flour, but my personal experience is that the punugulu turn hard and rubbery when additional rice flour is added. Instead, Powder flattened rice (attukulu / poha) in a dry blender and mix with the batter to get the right consistency. Set it aside for 10 minutes. It becomes thick after it is soaked.
- Now adjust the consistency, if required, you may add very little water or can proceed as it is if the consistency is right.
- 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.
- You can add semolina to the batter, which gives a crisp to the punugulu. In this case leave the batter aside for half an hour and proceed with the same process.
Punugulu With Dosa Batter - Punugulu Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Idli Dosa Batter
- 1 Large Onion Roughly chopped
- 2 Green Chilies Finely chopped
- ½ Cup Coriander, finely chopped
- Few Curry Leaves Finely chopped
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- Salt to taste If required
- 1 tbsp Rice flour
- Required Oil to deep fry
Instructions
- Take fermented idli dosa batter in a bowl.
- To the batter add chopped onions, green chillies, coriander, curry leaves, cumin seeds and mix well.
- I'm not adding salt since the batter already has salt in it. If required you can include salt depending on your batter.
- To adjust consistence add rice flour or see "Tips and Tricks" in the above explanation.
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan over high heat. Once oil is hot enough, reduce to medium heat.
- Pinch out small amount of batter, shape the batter to any shape with your fingers and drop into oil or use a spoon to drop a tablespoon of batter.
- Don't overcrowd the pan with punugulu.
- Keep turning all sides while frying for even cooking and browning.
- 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 hot Punugulu with your favourite chutney
Recipe Video
Notes
- Adjust spice levels with green chillies.
- You can prepare Punugulu with fresh or fermented idli dosa batter, dosa batter or idli batter.
- You can also add 1 tbsp semolina/rava/suji to the batter. This gives a crisp to the punugulu. In this case leave the batter aside for half an hour and proceed with the same above mentioned process.
- Another variation to this- You can even add soaked and drained sago and split bengal gram (1/4 cup both combined) to the batter and and make punugulu. Soak them for at least 2 hours.
- You can also include spinach or any greens of your choice.
You might also like other popular APPETISERS from my blog- To name a few….
- Capsicum aloo paneer tikki
- Kuzhi Paniyaram
- Mint onion Pakoda
- Fish fry
- Stuffed okra
- Sweet Corn Masala vada
- Masala egg fry
Do check out other collections from blog!!
And many more to come!!…..Stay Tuned!!
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Happy Cooking 
Cheers!!
