Ponsa Mulik, also called halasina bonda, is a popular Konkani recipe from Mangalore, Udupi region, prepared using ripe jackfruit. These are similar to donut holes or beignets but have a crispy texture on the outside.
Ponsa mulik is sweet fried dough that is crispy on the outside with a melt-in-mouth texture inside. To take it to the next level, dip them in desi ghee (tuppa or brown butter) and enjoy. And if you like to add some crunch to ponsa mulik, add toasted cashews and coconut to the mulik batter.
Konkanis love to regularly prepare this as an evening snack, especially when jackfruits are in season. What a way to enjoy a rainy evening with a batch of hot ponsa mulik served with a cup of hot tea and milk!
It is pretty easy to prepare ponsa mulik. You need rice rava or idli rava, ripe jackfruit, jaggery, coconut, sesame seeds (til), and for extra crunch, we can add roasted coconut pieces and cashews.
Love idlis? You can even make the best idlis or ponsa muddo with the same recipe.
Ingredients for PONSA MULIK - SPECIAL KONKANI RECIPE | RIPE JACKFRUIT DONUT HOLES | MANGALOREAN HALASINA BONDA
1 cup Idli rava or Rice rava
2 tablespoon Coconut chunks
2 tablespoon Cashews, chopped
¼ cup Grated coconut
½ cup Jaggery (increase up to ¾ cup based on the sweetness of jackfruit)
1 cup Jackfruit
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Sesame seed or Til
¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
2 to 4 tablespoon Semolina or Sooji or Suji
Oil for frying
How to make Ponsa Mulik? | Mangalore Halasina Bonda | JACKFRUIT DONUT HOLES
In a bowl, add rice rava along with ½ to ¾ cup of water and mix. Keep this aside for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a pan on medium-low flame, roast the coconut pieces just until light golden. Transfer to a plate. Do not roast it too much, as we will fry them anyway.
Similarly, roast the cashews until light golden and transfer them to a plate.
In a mixer blender, add coconut, jaggery, jackfruit, and salt, and grind them to smooth paste. Note that I have not added any water. The water content from jaggery and jackfruit is enough to make a smooth paste.
Transfer the jackfruit paste prepared above to the bowl containing rice rava. Add cardamom powder, til, roasted cashews, and roasted coconut pieces, and mix to form the dough. The dough should not be too wet (or sticky) or too dry. Check out the video here.
Add sooji or semolina only if the batter becomes wet/sticky. Else simply skip adding sooji or semolina. If the batter is too dry, add a splash of water to get the right consistency.
Your dough is now ready for frying.
Heat oil in a pan on a medium flame for frying. Once the oil is hot, drop 7 to 8 lemon-sized balls into the hot oil and leave it undisturbed for two to three minutes. Now flip using a slotted spoon and continue frying on medium flame till it becomes deep golden brown on all sides. Transfer them to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
Repeat the process for the remaining dough.
Serve hot ponsa mulik with desi ghee, and enjoy.
Tips:
- If you cannot find idli rava or rice rava, soak raw rice in water for 2 to 3 hours. Drain the water, and then grind the rice along with jaggery, grated coconut, and jackfruit. Alternatively, substitute rice rava with semolina/sooji.
- Add more jaggery if the jackfruit is not sweet.
- Semolina or sooji is added only if the batter becomes watery or sticky. Else skip the ingredient.
- I have used fresh coconut pieces. Traditionally kobbari or dry coconut pieces are used.
- Always fry on medium flame till it becomes deep golden in color. Please do not take your eyes off the frying pan, as it will take seconds for the muliks to go from deep golden to dark brown to the burnt stage.
- Do not fry on high flame. Frying on a high flame will make muliks brown from the outside and remains uncooked inside.
- Frying muliks on a very low flame or adding too much water to the batter will make it oily. So please avoid doing that.
- You can make this entire recipe with sooji or semolina instead of rice rava.
How to store any leftover mulik?
You can store muliks in an airtight container at room temperature for a day and in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Love jackfruit? If you are a jackfruit lover like us, check out these interesting recipes using both ripe and raw jackfruit.
- Jackfruit seeds curry (bikkanda gashi)
- Jackfruit fritters (Rava Fry)
- Ponsa gharai (kheer)
- Village-style jackfruit curry (Kadgi gojju)
- Jackfruit burger
- Chane gashi (chickpeas jackfruit curry)
Recipe card
Ponsa Mulik | Jackfruit Fritters
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice rava or Idli rava
- 2 tablespoon Coconut , chunks
- 2 tablespoon Cashews , chopped
- ¼ cup Coconut , grated
- ½ cup Jaggery (can increase to ¾ cup based on sweetness of jackfruit)
- 1 cup Jackfruit
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sesame seed or Til
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 2 to 4 tbsp Semolina or Sooji or Suji
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a bowl, add rice rava along with ½ to ¾ cup of water and mix. Keep this aside for 15 minutes.1 cup Rice rava
- Meanwhile, in a pan on medium-low flame, dry roast the coconut pieces just until light golden. Transfer to a plate. Do not roast it too much, as we will fry them anyway.2 tablespoon Coconut
- Similarly, roast the cashews until light golden and transfer them to a plate.2 tablespoon Cashews
- In a mixer blender, add coconut, jaggery, jackfruit, and salt, and grind them to smooth paste. Note that I have not added any water. The water content from jaggery and jackfruit is enough to make a smooth paste.¼ cup Coconut, ½ cup Jaggery, 1 cup Jackfruit, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Transfer the jackfruit paste prepared above to the bowl containing rice rava. Add cardamom powder, til, roasted cashews, and roasted coconut pieces (from above), and mix to form the dough. The ponsa mulik dough should not be too wet (or sticky) or too dry. Check out the video here.¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder, 1 teaspoon Sesame seed
- Add sooji or semolina only if the batter becomes wet/sticky. Else simply skip adding sooji or semolina. If the batter is too dry, add a splash of water to get the right consistency.2 to 4 tablespoon Semolina
- Your dough is now ready for frying.
- Heat oil in a pan on a medium flame for frying. Once the oil is hot, drop 7 to 8 lemon-sized balls into the hot oil and leave it undisturbed for two to three minutes. Now flip using a slotted spoon and continue frying on medium flame till it becomes deep golden brown on all sides. Transfer them to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.Oil
- Repeat the process for the remaining dough.
- Serve hot ponsa mulik with desi ghee, and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- If you cannot find idli rava or rice rava, soak raw rice in water for 2 to 3 hours. Drain the water, and then grind the rice along with jaggery, grated coconut, and jackfruit. Alternatively, substitute rice rava with semolina/sooji.
- Add more jaggery if the jackfruit is not sweet.
- Semolina or sooji is added only if the batter becomes watery or sticky. Else skip the ingredient.
- I have used fresh coconut pieces. Traditionally, kobbari or dry coconut pieces are used.
- Always fry on medium flame till it becomes deep golden in color. Please do not take your eyes off the frying pan, as it will take seconds for the muliks to go from deep golden to dark brown to the burnt stage.
- Do not fry on high flame. Frying on a high flame will make muliks brown from the outside and remains uncooked inside.
- Frying muliks on a very low flame or adding too much water to the batter will make it oily. So please avoid doing that.
- You can make this entire recipe with sooji or semolina instead of rice rava.
Nutrition
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Katherine
This is such a tasty way to use jackfruit!
dina and bruce miller
A fun way to serve Jackfruit!
Andrea
You had me at sweet fried dough with a melt in your mouth inner texture. I can't wait to devour these. Yum!
dana
This is such a cool idea. Thanks for sharing!
TAYLER ROSS
I love jackfruit, and these fritters are my new favorite way to enjoy it! So delicious and full of flavor!