Bread Bonda are these fried potato balls that my moms aunt used to make her growing up. It’s called bread bonda because they are potato balls wrapped in white bread and shallow fried to crispy perfection!
I know, I know, the idea of taking white bread, slightly wetting it and frying it doesn’t sound that great but it’s not that different from croutons!
Boil whole, medium sized gold potatoes (2 pounds of them) with the skin on until they can be pierced with a fork. Peel the skin off after you drain and cool them and crush them with a fork. You want them to be crumbly and a little chunky.
Mix the potatoes with the salt, chili powder, grated ginger, diced onions, and chopped cilantro.
Make sure to use red onion for this recipe, they stay crispy and add a great balance to the creaminess of gold potatoes.
Roll the potato into ping pong sized balls, you’ll get about 20 of them.
Take a slice of bread for each potato ball you have and cut the crusts off. Then flatten them with your hand or a rolling pin.
Here comes the slightly tricky part: wrapping the potato balls in the bread.
If you get a presliced loaf of white bread (think Mrs Baird’s or Sara Lee) the size of the slices should be just large enough for you to wrap the potato balls.
Generously wet your hands and pat the water onto the bread slice to get it slightly wet. This will help you mold the bread around the potato balls. Bring the four corners of the bread together and wet your hand once more. Use your wet hands to help you seal the edges of the bread around the balls. Don’t be afraid to keep using water if you need to. It’s okay for the bread to be damp, you just don’t want it to be soggy. (refer to the photo above)
In a small, deep pan on medium heat prepare 2 cups of canola oil for frying.
Keep turning them as they brown. They’ll hit a beautiful golden brown but they won’t be done yet. The first photo below shows that stage but the second photo will indicate that they’re done.
Place the balls on a draining rack or on a paper towel.
My favorite way to each bread bonda is with ketchup or Maggi Hot and Sweet sauce!
You can make the entire batch of bonda all at once or you can store the potato filling in the fridge for up to a week!
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Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Gold Potatoes
- ½ Red Onion, diced
- 5-6 Sprigs Cilantro, finely chopped
- ½ Tbsp Ginger, finely grated
- ½ tsp Chili Powder
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- 20 slices White Bread Mrs Baird's Large White Bread
- 2 Cups Canola (for frying)
Instructions
- Boil potatoes with skin on until they can be pierced with a fork (don't overboil or they will be too mushy, boil them just until they can be pierced and no longer)
- Drain and peel the potatoes.
- Take a fork and lightly mashed (crumble) the potatoes. Refer to the photos in the post.
- Mix in the ginger, onions, chili powder, salt, and cilantro. You want the potatoes to still be somewhat chunky.
- Roll the potato mixture into ping pong sizes balls. You'll get about 20 of them.
- Cut the crust off of your bread slices and roll lightly with a rolling pin (you can flatten the bread with your hands if you want)
- To wrap the potato balls in the bread, you want generously wet your hands and pat the water onto the bread slices. (this will help them wrap better)
- Place a ball on a dampened bread slice and bring the four corners together. Wet your hands again and pat the bread around the balls to seal the edges. Roll the bread ball between your palms.
- Heat up 2 cups of canola oil in a medium pan on medium heat to shallow fry.
- Fry the bread bondas until they are medium to dark golden brown. Turn the balls often as they fry to get an even color.
- Enjoy with ketchup or Maggi Hot and Sweet Sauce!
- You can refrigerate some of the potato mixture for up to a week if you don't want to make a large batch.