Measure and sieve the besan/gram flour. Keep it ready.

Start heating up oil for frying the boondis. If you are a beginner worried about overheating the oil, you can keep the stove in medium heat while we prepare the batter.

Take a large mixing bowl, add the besan flour first.

Next add rice flour, asafoetida, salt and baking soda.

Mix all dry things roughly. Add water gradually and start mixing the boondi batter.

Two cups of my gram flour took around one cup of water. The batter should be like bajji batter slightly thinner than that. It should be runny yet should form ribbons like this.

Meanwhile, the oil should be hot enough by this time.

Check the heat status of oil with a single drop of batter. The oil should be really hot enough to bring up that batter drop instantly without burning. This is the ideal temperature for most of the South Indian fried snack recipes.

Now hold the boondi ladle or perforated ladle on top of oil(keep a safe distance) and pour one ladle full of batter. If you use a huge frying pan, you can add one more ladle full of batter. Take decisions based on the size of your pan. I added only once at a time. See the pearls falling and you could see the high temperature of the oil with this sizzling picture. This is the right temperature to fry boondis. Please watch the video for a clear understanding.

Do not overcrowd. This is an important point to note as boondis will stick to each other if crowded.

The droplets sizzle and fry and float on top of the oil.

Fry the boondis until crisp. It takes around full 3 to 4 minutes to become crispy. Stir them once to get them evenly fried.

When the bubbles settle and boondis become a golden color, use another slotted spoon/ladle to take out the boondis.

Repeat the same for other batches. Collect the boondis in kitchen tissue.

Switch off the stove.

In another frying pan heat a tbsp of ghee or oil.

Add 2 tbsp dried groundnuts and fry them in medium heat for two to three minutes. If the peanuts are already fried, reduce the frying time to seconds.

Next, add 1 tbsp of cashew pieces and fry along with groundnuts. Put a lavish pinch of asafoetida.

Add 6 crushed garlic pods. Use garlic cloves with full skin on. When you crush garlic with skin it gives a burst of flavor.

Garlic is an optional ingredient.

Also, fry two sprigs of fresh curry leaves. Meanwhile, be careful not to over-brown the nuts. You can reduce the heat to keep it in control. Switch off.

Finally, add a tsp of chilli powder and mix it with other ingredients. The chilli powder will be cooked in the retained heat of the pan.

Take the fried boondis in a deep bowl.

Add the fried items and mix well.

Toss the boondis to mix properly.

Serve the crispy kara boondi as a tea time snack. Store in a tight container to retain the crispness.