Thursday

One a penny, two a penny - Buns

I was introduced to Mangalore buns after my marriage. Two days after to be precise. "Let's make buns for breakfast tomorrow", my mother in law told me. I nodded my head, awed that she was not only a good cook but a great baker too. I imagined us buttering warm buns fresh from the oven, while sipping tea and engaging in lively conversation (those darned Enid Blytons again!).

To cut a really embarassing story short, I realized buns were puris only after my mother in law poured oil into the 'kadai' instead of pre heating the oven!!

Buns are made with ripe bananas and maida and served with chutney for breakfast (the version we grew up eating was made with rice flour and called 'kelyache wade'). My mother in law favors whole wheat over maida and since I learned the recipe from her, that's how I make buns too. If like me you buy a bunch of bananas and always have a few over ripe ones left that noone is willing to touch, this is the perfect solution.

buns

BUNS (Banana Puris)
2 cups whole wheat flour (or maida if you prefer)
1 overripe banana
4-5 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup yogurt, beaten
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
salt to taste
1 tsp oil + oil to deep fry

Peel and mash bananas. Add yogurt, sugar, salt, cumin and baking soda. Adjust sugar to your taste. Five tablespoons might seem a lot but you always need to add flour while rolling, which reduces the sugary impact. Mix well. Gradually add flour and gather together to form a dough. You might need to add more flour if the dough is too 'wet'.

Rub a teapoon of oil on dough evenly. Cover and set aside overnight or for a minimum of 4-5 hours.

Dust rolling pin and board with flour (the dough will be very sticky) and keep some handy to help with rolling. Roll out circles of 3-4" diameter. Don't worry if they are slightly thick - they taste better. Since I haven't mastered buns yet I roll a large circle and then cut out puris with a cookie cutter or bowl. Faster and way easier :-)

Heat a kadai with enough oil to deep fry. Gently slide in puri and fry on moderate heat till it puffs up. Turn over and fry on the other side. Buns will be slightly darker in color because of the bananas. Remove and drain on absorbent paper.

Serve hot. In our home they are served with a spicy green peas curry - heavenly and so worth all the hassle and guilt!

* More sweet ideas - The Maharashtrian delicacy of Gharge, puris made with grated pumpkin and the Luchis that our neigbour in Calcutta used to make with left over syrup from rasgullas or gulab jamuns.

* Entry for JFI Banana hosted by Mandira of Ahaar

Labels:

26 Comments:

Blogger mb said...

Looks delicious Ashwini, thank you for your entry for JFI:Banana -- Mandira

2:44 PM  
Blogger Rajesh &Shankari said...

I am wondering how sticky the dough will be..:)but the end result looks so appetizing Ashwini

9:34 PM  
Blogger Srivalli said...

that looks very good...

12:33 AM  
Blogger Bong Mom said...

Yeah I have seen these Mangalore Buns only after starting to Blog Hop.I would surely like the taste of bananas in my buns :)

12:26 AM  
Blogger Anitha said...

Those buns looks so delicious. I have never heard of this before. Sure it would be a great way to start a sweet day with a sweet breakfast :-)

Also, it would be a great way to use those overripe bananas once a while :-)

2:31 PM  
Blogger Dhana said...

Wow, they look and sound great. Hmm, do you think they can be baked ;)?

9:59 PM  
Blogger KayKat said...

I was thinking exactly what Dhana said - whether we could reqork this to be baked instead of fried. Sounds yummy!

11:53 PM  
Blogger Ramya said...

Delicious! Mouth-watering! I will try this recipe for sure Ashwini

1:35 PM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Thanks ladies.

Dhana & Kaykat - I am sure the baking experiment would be a success. The original recipes calls for maida so that would be exactly like a banana cake. You might want to use a combination of whole wheat & refined flours too. Also I think you'd need to use just a bit more sugar. Good luck

3:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! I too had prepared Buns on sunday! These pics are really good! I'd probably make them once more :)

8:43 PM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Hi Ashu (that's what my family calls me too!) - Yep buns are a fun meal for the weekend.

9:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Ashu, we both share the same name! (real and nickname too!);-)

11:16 AM  
Blogger TheCooker said...

Oh how did I miss this port.
The 'bun'nana puris look just delicious!

5:37 PM  
Blogger Aruna said...

Ashwini,

Those look delicious, Can u please post the "SPICY Pea Masala" curry you mentioned in ur post ???
Thx

Themistressofspices.wordpress.com

9:27 AM  
Blogger sagari said...

http://indiancomfortfood.blogspot.com/

5:48 PM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Ashu - that's cool!

TC - thanks

Aruna - it is made with dried green peas. Sure I will post the recipe soon

7:03 PM  
Blogger Anjali Koli said...

Yeah Ashwini I was fooled too by the name when I saw thick pooris in my order. I was disappointed first. It took me a couple to enjoy mangalore buns.

1:22 AM  
Blogger Mansi said...

Funny story, lovely buns:) nice use of bananas Ashwini!

4:14 PM  
Blogger Divya and Chaya said...

Ashwini,
Your blog looks great! We love buns too, especially with coriander chutney and hot chai.

5:31 PM  
Blogger Linda said...

Hi Ashwini, the buns look so pretty there on the bamboo dish, really nice! :)

8:33 PM  
Blogger sagari said...

looks very yummy Ashwini

12:43 PM  
Blogger Padmaja said...

ashwini!! congrats!! check out raffle winners at indira's blog and mine. U have a mail from me dear!!

10:17 AM  
Blogger Anupama said...

Hi Nupur,
Been ages since I came to your blog. Those Kelyachya Purya look so soooo good. I can practically taste them right now. And hey thanks for linking my Ghaarge post. Now I need to go back to your posts and check out all the others that I have missed.

5:13 AM  
Blogger Anupama said...

Eeeks!!! did I just type Nupur instead of Ashwini? Sooo sorry!! I was about to hop over to her blog after I had seen yours, so the stupid mix-up.

5:16 AM  
Blogger cb said...

Hi Ashwini. I love your blog, but I see that you haven't updated in a while. Maybe you're out of town? I've sent you a couple of emails. If you have a second, please send me an email at chip@cookthink.com. Thanks!

8:50 AM  
Anonymous s said...

this is GGGOOODD!!!

12:03 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Main Page