Mangalore Buns

THIS is a tea-time treat which brings back happy childhood memories of summer holidays spent in Balkudru, a tiny little island where my grandparents spent their post-retirement days. (In the picture below taken by my cousin Joey, a Goa-based architect, the sun rises over the river Sita, Balkudru village, which is approximately 75 km north of Mangalore). Apart from my grandma's kitchen, the snack also used to feature, and probably still does, on the limited menu of the small but clean and homely wayside eateries dotting the South Kanara coast, with their long tables and benches for seating.

They’re called Mangalore Buns with good reason perhaps, although my version can more likely be termed banana puris, simply because I roll them out to the thickness of puris, not quite so thick, as the way it should be for the "buns".

What you need:

2 small ripe bananas, 250 gms flour, 2 tablepoons curd, 2 tablespoons sugar, ½ a teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon sodium bicarbonate (soda bicarb), 1 tablespoon

ghee, oil to deep fry. Although the usual recipe doesn’t call for it, I also sprinkle two or three pinches of whole jeera (cumin seed) which adds a subtle contrast to the sweetness. I have also tried using saunf (fennel seed), but prefer jeera.

In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas using a fork. Add the sugar, salt, soda bicarb, ghee and the curd. Mix well. Add sifted flour and jeera and knead well. You can add a little more flour if the dough is too soft to get a firm consistency. Alternately, if it's too dry, just sprinkle a little water and continue kneading. Cover and leave overnight or for eight hours.

Make lime-sized portions and roll thick. Slide them one at a time into hot oil, fry, flip over to fry the other side and remove when done. Drain on absorbent paper.

PS: It’s ideal to roll out perfect circles but I simply roll them out to any shape that they yield to. In the picture at the very top, don't you think the ONE staring you in the face looks like the map of Australia? Something I could never draw freehand. Often they resemble maps of as yet uncharted territories beyond the face of this earth. That doesn’t really matter. They taste good. Finally that’s what matters.