Goli baje, a deep-fried heavenly delight is a signature dish of Mangalore and Udupi. This popular snack is often seen as an accompaniment to breakfast, lunch, tea and even dinner.
Goli baje is surprisingly easy to make and requires basic ingredients like maida, sour curds, spices like ginger and green chilli, coconut and coriander and curry leaves. Maida or all-purpose flour is mixed well with salt and a pinch of hing. Sour curds (some prefer to use fresh buttermilk) is slowly added into the mixture to make it into a smooth paste.
It is important not to make the mixture either too thick or too watery. Chopped ginger, green chilli, curry and coriander leaves and freshly grated coconut is added gently into the mixture. The batter is allowed to rest for three hours. Some people prefer to add baking soda to ferment the batter while others prefer to leave the batter to ferment overnight. This will in fact enhance its taste and lend it a unique tanginess.
The batter is mixed slowly after three hours. Oil is heated in a large kadai and small ball-sized batter is dropped into the hot oil. It is necessary to dip your hand in cold water first before pinching the batter.
The balls are stirred and fried uniformly on medium flame till they turn golden brown in colour. It is eaten hot with either coconut or coriander or pudina or tomato chutney. These fried flour balls are very light and fluffy and simply melt in your mouth.
This spongy yet crispy coastal delicacy will surely give your cardiologist the jitters but will tantalize your taste buds leaving you begging for more.
Written by Lakshmi Subramanian
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