Ponsa Mulik Jackfruit Fritters Mangalorean Style

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.

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.

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.

You can store muliks in an airtight container at room temperature for a day and in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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)