"Matta Gulla Bajo / Green Brinjal Bajia" ... a delicious deep fried snack that can be served during tea time/ tiffin or as side dish during lunch/ dinner time ... a favorite of every konkani Saraswat/ amchi when matti gulla is in season ... Yummilcious ....
** Matti/ Mattu Gulla is a variety of green brinjal dated back to about 400 years grown in and around Udupi district of Karnataka state in India that lies on the shore of the Arabian sea. The village is also known by name of Mattu and these are famous brinjals from there. The seeds fro growing this type of Brinjal is believed to have been given by the then Guruji/ Swamiji of Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt/ Temple Sri Vadiraja Swamiji of Sode Mutt which is one of the famous and pious Ashta (Eight) Mutts of Udupi. The farmers of the village to date offer their first crop of Matti/ Mattu Gulla at the Lotus feet of Lord Krishna of Sri Krishna Mutt/ Temple.
** Matta Gula is a particular type of Green Brinjal available in Mangalore or some other parts of Southern India as mentioned above and it belongs to the same Brinjal family and almost has the same properties. The only difference is the color and shape. The brinjal is a bit darker shade in Green and round/ ball like in shape. There is definitely a difference in taste that will be acknowledged only by those who have relished this variety of brinjal and will not be able to be differentiated by other. If this particular Brinjal is not available, you can always use any that is available at your place too. However if you are staying in Mumbai, it is available when in season in Mangalore stores as they transport it from Udupi. As most of the stores are located near station do try and find out the same if you would like to have a taste of matti gulla.
** Here is the simple method of preparing "Matta Gulla Bajo / Green Brinjal Bajia" .....
** For the Batter : In a bowl add in 1 cup of besan (Bengal gram flour), 1 tblsp of spicy red chilly powder (mirsange pitti), 1 tblsp of hing water or ½ tsp of hing (asafoetida) powder and salt (meeta/ namak) to taste. Mix all gently to see that there are no lumps. Add in enough water to bind into a thick paste of dropping/ coating consistency. To check out, dip a spoon in the batter and the paste should coat the back of a spoon thickly and not slip off easily.
** To Prepare the Matti Gulla/ Brinjal for Deep frying : Wash, wipe dry and slice off the ends of one medium sized Green Brinjal / Matta Gula, both stem side and the bottom. Cut it into quarters, if the brinjal is large in size or into semi circle if smaller in size. that is two/ four pieces and then slice them into 1/8 inch thick slices and keep it ready aside. Check out to see that there are no germs in the Brinjal, which happens quite often. Discard that portion if any.
** You can check out the picture posted above and you will find both triangular and semi circular cut bajo/ bajia in them. You may follow any pattern you desire to make.
** For Frying the Bajo/ Bajia : Heat plenty of oil in a thick bottomed kadai for deep-frying. Once it reaches smoking point, lower heat to medium and wait for about 5 minutes. Now dip each piece of gula / brinjal into the batter and swirl it so that it coats the brinjal slices evenly on all sides, gently leave it into the hot oil.
** Add in a few pieces at a time depending upon the size of the pan and the amount of oil heated. After about 3-4 minutes, keep stirring the bajo/ bajia to cook them evenly. Once the brinjal bajo / bajia turns reddish brown in color remove and put it on an absorbent paper and keep it for a while for the excess oil to drain off. Follow the same procedure for the remaining pieces of brinjal.
** "Matta Gulla Bajo / Green Brinjal Bajia" is doe and ready to be served. Serve them hot with Dal-Chawal for lunch or with some ketchup as a snack. These brinjals have a unique taste when deep fried or prepared into gojju, so do try to purchase them if possible. However if they are not available you can try them out with any green variety brinjals and if they too are not available then the option is to use purple brinjal that are large in size and available everywhere almost all round the world.
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