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Beans, lentils & pulses · Namkeen

Boondi (fried gram-flour pearls)

Tiny crisp pearls of deep-fried gram-flour batter, sold salted for raita and chaat or sweet for laddoo.

Also called: khari boondi, salted boondi, raita boondi, bundi, plain boondi

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A kind of chickpea flour

1 recipe with it

What it is

Droplets of thin chickpea-flour batter pressed through a perforated ladle into hot oil and fried until crisp. Salted (khari) boondi is a namkeen sold in packets all over India and used for boondi raita and chaat; sweet boondi is soaked in sugar syrup and shaped into boondi laddoo. Raita boondi is usually plain or lightly spiced.

How it’s used

  • Soaked briefly and stirred into yoghurt for boondi raita
  • Scattered over chaat and dahi puri
  • Eaten as a snack with other namkeen
  • Sweet boondi is made into laddoo

Characteristics

Taste
Savoury, toasty gram-flour flavour; salted versions are lightly spiced.
Texture
Crisp when dry; soft and spongy after soaking.
Appearance
Small golden-yellow beads, 3–5 mm across.
When cooked
Soaks up liquid quickly and swells; goes soggy if left in raita for hours.
Sold as
whole
Cooking uses
Used as a garnish

Storage

Pantry-stable. Keep in an airtight container away from light for 1–2 months; it goes stale and rancid once opened and left in the air.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free
  • Made from gram flour fried in oil; check packs for added nuts or wheat if cooking for allergies.

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
387 kcal
Protein
22.39 g
Carbohydrate
57.82 g
Fat
6.69 g
Fibre
10.8 g
Sugars
10.85 g

USDA FoodData Central: Chickpea flour (besan) (a close stand-in).

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Fine sev — Thin sev gives the same flavour as a garnish, though it does not soak up the yoghurt the same way.

Related ingredients

Recipes with boondi (fried gram-flour pearls)