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Certain foods have the capacity to invoke strong sentiments, don’t they? Do you have a dish that immediately conjures up memories of your childhood?
When Hetal from Milk and Cardamom contacted me abut doing a guest post, I was pretty excited. First, Hetal has a lovely blog where she cooks up some really awesome food. Need proof? Check out her Chocolate Chai Mini Bundt Cakes! Stuff that Chai dreams are made of 😀 Second I was really excited by the theme she suggested: favorite Indian childhood food! Isn’t that a wonderful theme?
The first thing that popped to my mind when I thought about my favorite childhood dish were Goli Baje! Those crispy, fluffy, pillowy fritters that my mom used to make…
Goli Baje are a Mangalorean specialty. Mangalore is a coastal town in the south Indian state of Karnataka. It is famous for its cuisine, especially the fiery, tangy and absolutely mouth-watering seafood curries.
My family is Mangalorean, so the cuisine is one I have grown up with. Goli Baje was a favorite tea-time snack on weekends. ‘Goli’ means round and ‘Baje’ is just local lingo for bhajiya or fritters. So these are simply round fritters.
Not that they turn out specially round, but the taste, oh the taste… you have to try it to believe how such simple ingredients come together to form the perfect alchemic balance 😀 The spicy green chili, the subtle hint of ginger, the bits of coconut, all ensconced in the crispiest of exteriors…Mmmm…
I remember eating them piping hot, almost burning my mouth in the process, followed by a few gulps of hot Bournvita or malted milk! Served with Coconut Chutney, these simple fritters made tea-time so very special 🙂 It is also a hidden gem; not many people outside the Mangalorean community are familiar with this wonderful snack at all.
If you have been following my blog for a while, you know I dislike deep-frying and try baked versions of traditionally deep-fried food. Well, Goli Baje is an exception. The kind of wicked-crispiness that you get from these fritters would be impossible to replicate in a baked version.
Here’s the recipe.
Print
Mangalorean Goli Baje (Guest Post by Spice and the City)
- Total Time: 4 hours 28 minutes
- Yield: 15 Baje 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup rice flour
- 1 cup of sour yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1–2 green chilli, chopped
- 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
- 1 sprig curry leaves, roughly torn
- 1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together all purpose flour, rice flour and salt.
- Add yogurt and some water and mix to form a smooth batter without any lumps.The batter needs to have the consistency of a very thick cake batter.
- Set this batter aside for 4-5 hours.
- Just before frying, mix in baking soda, green chilli, curry leaves, coconut and ginger.
- Heat oil in a frying pan or deep fryer.
- When the oil is hot, drop spoonfuls of the batter in the hot oil. They will puff up to form round balls (‘golis’).
- Fry them in medium heat until golden brown.It is important to cook these on moderate heat, otherwise the insides won’t be cooked.
- Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with Coconut Chutney.
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
Be sure to check out more of Naina’s mouthwatering recipes at her website, Spice in the City!
5 Responses
They look like the fritters my mum used to make when I was a child and told her that I wanted something to eat but couldn’t really specify what 🙂
Love this! The baje’s look so good. I remember having these in Hyderabad when I was studying and always wondered how they made this. Great post, you two!
thanks! her baje recipe is DELICIOUS!!!
In our city its called Mysorebajji
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