Back in Kochi, in our second rented apartment, our immediate neighbours were Muslims. One evening, during the second half of the fasting month of Ramadan, the lady of the house rang our door bell and asked for two plates and two bowls. Why I asked?

To give us some of their Iftar food, she said. And she came back with the plates and the bowls filled with food and covered with aluminium foil. We were excited 😀. The food she gave included the traditional rice pathiri, chicken curry, spring rolls filled with minced meat, coated with bread crumbs and fried and a semolina kheer for dessert😋. We loved it !

If she had given the food in her plates, we would have to give something back while returning the plates. It’s rude to return just the empty bowls. So asking for our plates was a way of avoiding a return gift. And I in turn used to gift them a plum cake from Anns bakery during Christmas. From then on, this exchange of treats during Iftar and Christmas continued. Needless to say, my neighbour’s treat was more precious as it was homemade while mine was store bought. And sometimes, the spring rolls were replaced by egg bondas – a boiled half egg coated with a spicy mix of potato and coconut, dipped in beaten egg, rolled in bread crumbs and fried. It looked like the pic below👇.

The egg bondas were a novelty and during one such Iftar, my mom was at home. The next day, she asked my neighbour for the recipe and since then, we make it occasionally and it brings back the fond memories. Here’s the recipe –

Egg bonda

Ingredients:

[1] Hard boiled eggs – 3 nos.

[2] Potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed – 3 nos.

[3] Fresh Grated Coconut – 1/2 cup

[4] Green chilli – 1 nos.

[5] Shallots, peeled – 2 nos.

[6] Ginger, peeled – 1/2 inch

[7] Egg beaten – 1 nos.

[8] Bread crumbs to coat the egg bonda

[9] Oil for frying

[10] Salt to taste

Method:

[1] Coarsely grind the grated coconut, green chilli, shallots and ginger into a paste.

[2] Mix the ground coconut mixture with the mashed potatoes and add salt to taste

[3] Cut the boiled eggs into halves and coat each half with the coconut potato mix as in the pic below👇

[4] Dip the coated boiled eggs into the beaten egg and the roll them the bread crumbs to form a even coating

[5] Heat the oil fry the egg bondas

Serve hot 😋. Try it out !

This year’s Ramadan fasting is about to start and Iftar parties are eagerly awaited. Here’s wishing everyone a safe and peaceful month of Ramadan.

Till next post, take care !!