Goli Bajo / Goli Baje.

Goli Baje / Goli Bajo with tomato ketchup and lime juice .......

‘Goli’ means round and ‘Baje’ means snack that is deep fried. So ‘Goli Baje’ means a round deep fried snack. This is the most famous snack of almost every restaurant in Mangalore. This snack is really very spongy and porous from inside and crispy outside. Tastes awesome with coconut chutney or ketchup. It is really simple to prepare once you get the hang of it. 

Sieve 2 cups of maida, 2 heaped tsp of besan (gram flour) with 1/2 tsp cooking soda in a bowl and keep aside.

Beat 1/2 to 1 cup of curd and keep aside. Add to the sieved maida-besan, salt to taste, ½ tsp of sugar powder (Optional), a small piece of ginger grated, 4-5 green chillies chopped fine, a few curry leaves chopped fine, ½ tsp of hing powder and mix well. Add in little by little curds while you keep mixing well till you get a thick batter. There should be not lumps and the mixture should be smooth and creamy. If all the curds are over, then if necessary you can add in a little bit of water. However it will not be necessary, also the mixture should be thick or else the goli baje will soak in oil while frying. Keep it aside at room temperature for 25-30 minutes.

Heat a medium sized thick bottom kadai with plenty of oil (around 4 cups). When it comes to smoking hot, reduce the flame to medium and wait for 5 minutes. Take a small pinch of the dough and drop in the oil, if it comes up round and nice within few minutes it means the oil is of correct temperature for frying. Keep the temperature even throughout frying of the baje’s. 

Drop small balls of the dough making it into round shape with the help of you three fingers and running the dough on the rim of the bowl. Fry 5-6 balls at a time (the no. of balls depends upon the size of the kadai). Keep stirring the balls and rolling them to fry evenly on all sides. When they become well browned and crispy remove on an absorbent paper for the excess oil to drain off. Prepare the remaining dough similarly. Fry all till done. Serve with chutney or ketchup.