What is Punugulu?

Punugulu are small, round, dimpled fried balls made from the same fermented rice-and-urad dal batter as dosa and idli, but instead of spreading it thin or steaming it in molds, you drop spoonfuls into a special ladle-like mold with round indentations and deep-fry them until they're golden all over and crispy outside while staying surprisingly soft inside. They're served stacked in a cone of paper, usually with a spoon of ginger-green-chili chutney for dipping, and eaten warm with the urgency of food that tastes terrible if it cools down. The fermentation gives them the same gentle tang as dosa, and the frying gives them an addictiveness that the non-fried rice-and-lentil foods lack. One batch usually arrives in the time it takes you to eat it, suggesting an infinite supply that usually turns out to have been the last batch.

Punugulu is deeply Andhra, tied to Vijayawada and the Krishna river valley specifically, and while it's gained pan-South Indian recognition, it still carries the flavor of its origin. The proper way to eat them is standing up, chatting with whoever is selling them, dipping each one, and eating them before they cool. They're light enough that you can eat far more than you should, which is part of their charm. The crispy-outside-soft-inside texture is the technical flex — too much oil and they become greasy; not enough and the outside stays dense. The mold shape becomes legendary: a good mold, seasoned over years, is treated like a sacred tool, and some street vendors guard their particular mold like it's a family heirloom.