Two New Yorkers spend six months 18 months!?! in Bangalore and other places in India.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Snack Time: Aulose Unda

It may very well be because of my weakness for buying snacks at the grocery that Don is always surprised when I tell him that I happen to be on a diet. In any case, it's our loyal readers I'm thinking of when I see products like the one below and grab them.


These appealed to me partly because they seemed pretty simple: you've just got some rice flour, dry ginger, jaggery (delicious palm sugar), jeera (cumin), and elachi (cardamon). As a side note, it's a very rare kind of snack like this that doesn't have cardamon. I personally think it's usually a distracting and overpowering taste, but I'm trying to get used to it -- it's clear from its heavy usage that it's not going anywhere.

And what are these little golf balls like inside? Dry and crumbly! There were slightly gingery, but the main thing they have is a mealy texture.


I could also taste little chunks of jaggery. And those were the best parts. But a much more efficient way of getting that jaggery taste is just to buy big yellow chunks of it at the store, take them home, lock the door, and gnaw on them when no one's looking. (Surely I'm not the only one who does that.)

Anyway, one or two of these might be OK, but beyond that, I think they're doomed to remain uneaten and unloved, at least at our house.

Unda seem similar to laddoos. Here'a recipe for Mangalorean undas with coconut and a little ghee.

2 comments:

Binu Paul said...

Aulose Unda is from Kerala (my state). Probably the place from where you bought it is owned by a Kerala guy. And here's how the flour is prepared

Unknown said...

Binu, thanks for the link -- that's quite interesting, as is the rest of your blog.. Maybe I'll have to break down and get a grinder, because so many dishes (and ingredients) require it.

And I got the unda at All Saints, here in Bangalore. There are always appam and things like that on the front counter. Those are more common in Kerala than elsewhere in South India, I think?