• 3 - Plantain/ balekai 
• 1 tsp - turmeric powder / haldi
• 1 tbsp - black-pepper powder / red-chili pdr (you may either or both depending on your choice of taste)
• 1½ tbsp - cumin pdr / geera pdr
• 1 tbsp - coriander pdr / dhania pdr 
• ½ tsp - mango pdr / amchur (substitute: tamarind pulp or lemon juice)
• 1½ tbsp - chickpeas or gram flour / besan
• 1 tbsp - rice flour
• 2 tbsp - cooking oil
• ½ tdsp - funnel seeds / saunf 
• 1 - small piece of cinnamon stick
• 2 in - ginger - thin sliced, crushed or grated (no paste) 
• 1 - small bulb of garlic or 5 to 7 cloves  - peeled and crushed
• Salt - to taste

1. Put a vessel or a deep pan, add water and let the water come to boil. Add a spoon of salt and 1/4 tsp of turmeric to the water.
2. Meanwhile, after pealing the skin, cut plantains into cubes or thick circular pieces. 
3. Add the cut plantains into the water. 
4. Let water boil for a minute or two or until the banana is slightly tender (not too soft).
5. Drain the plantain pieces into a colander and keep it aside for few minutes to cool down. 
6. To the plantain, now add salt, black-pepper pdr / red-chili pdr ( I use both, but more of black-pepper pdr),  turmeric pdr, cumin pdr, coriander pdr,  and amchur. Toss everything to coat the banana pieces with spices. Avoid using a spatula as it may break part and crush the plantain pieces.
7. Now add gram flour /besan and rice pdr to the mixture and toss again. Keep aside.
8. In a nonstick pan or a wok, add 2 tbsp oil and put on stove at medium flame.
9. To the hot oil, add funnel seeds, a piece of cinnamon stick and curry leaves. Stir for 20 seconds.
10. Now add crushed ginger and garlic to the oil and let it roast.
11. Add the banana and let it roast. Keep tossing every few minutes until it is crispy on the out side and soft on the inside. Do not cover. If needed add more oil.
12. Serve hot as a side dish with rice or roti.

• 2 - fully ripe banana (peeled)
• 1 cup - whole wheat flour
• ½ cup - grated coconut (may be grounded too)
• ½ cup - jaggery or brown sugar or liquid  jaggery 
• ½ tsp - cardamom powder
• 3 tsp - milk or water - as & if needed to get the right consistence.
• Oil for deep frying

Optional Ingredients:

• 1 tsp - honey 
• 1 tsp - cashew nut powder
• pinch of baking powder or Eno fruit salt
• pinch of nutmeg pdr, cinnamon pdr, cloves pdr or black-pepper pdr ( I use bit of cloves and pepper powder when prepared as snack, slight hint of spice goes well with evening tea/coffee)
• pinch of salt

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg maida/all purpose flour/plain flour
• 2  ripe  bananas (fully ripe soft banana's are the best to use)
• 5 tbsp  sugar
• Pinch of salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (or Eno Fruit Salt - unflavored one) some use baking soda too.
• 2 tbsp curds
• 2 tsp cumin(Geera) seeds
• Oil for deep frying
• Extra flour for dusting

Method:

1. Peel and slice the bananas. Add them into a mixer/blender along with salt and sugar. Blend them into a fine paste. You may mash all these in a bowl using your hands.
2. Transfer the banana paste into a mixing bowl, mix-in the curds, and baking powder.
3. Heat 1 tbsp dalda/vanaspati or ghee or cooking oil in a tempering pan and keep it aside.
4. Add maida/plain flour to the mixture in the bowl little by little and knead it into a soft dough. When you have a sticky dough, add in the melted dalda and knead well.
5. Add in more flour if needed to make a nice dough that doesn't stick to your fingers completely. But we don't need a hard dough. We need a wet, soft, sticky, rubbery dough. (softer than chapathi dough). Note: Do not add any water while kneading the dough. Sugar when mixed with banana and curds gives out enough water to knead this dough. If needed add more curds or buttermilk.
6. Spread bit of oil over the dough to keep it moist and prevents drying of the outer layer of the dough.
7. Wet a thin cloth or paper-towel, squeeze out all the excess water, cover the dough completely with this damp cloth and allow it to rest at room temperature for 7-8 hours. The wet cloth helps retain moisture during rising of the dough. Make sure the cloth isn't too wet and is just damp enough.

8. After at least 6 hours, lightly knead the dough before you role them out. Make tiny lemon sized balls of the dough, roll it out a little using flour to dust. Don't flatten the balls too much, keep them thick. This dough does not roll into round shapes so I use one of my glass bowls to press it into all even round shapes. You may use a cookie cutter too.
9. Heat oil for deep frying, test if the oil is rolling hot by dropping a small piece of dough. If the dough emerges on top of the oil, that means the oil is hot enough. Lower the flame to medium heat.
10. Dust excess flour off the rolled pooris and fry them one at a time on medium flame. As soon as you drop the pooris into the oil they puff up beautifully, flip them over, keep them pressed under the oil for few seconds, that helps the puri puff up more.

11. Once they are cooked on both the sides and are golden brown, remove the poori from the hot oil and place it in a bowl lined with paper towel to drain out extra oil.
12. Mangalore Buns will last for few days in air tight container. Difference between regular poori and Mangalore Buns is soft fluff inside which resembles a bread -see picture below.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg maida/all purpose flour/plain flour
• 2  ripe  bananas (fully ripe soft banana's are the best to use)
• 1 tsp  sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (or Eno Fruit Salt - unflavored one) some use baking soda too.
• 2 tbsp curds
• 2 tsp cumin(Geera) seeds
• 2 tsp red chilli pdr
• 1/2 tsp turmeric(Haldi) pdr
• 1 handful of chopped coriander/cilantro   
• Oil for deep frying
• Extra flour for dusting

Method:

1. Peel and slice the bananas. Add them into a mixer/blender along with salt and sugar. Blend them into a fine paste. You may mash all these in a bowl using your hands.
2. Transfer the ground banana paste into a mixing bowl, add in the curds, turmeric pdr, chilli pdr, cumin seeds, chopped coriander leaves and  baking powder and mix well. [Optional: ginger/garlic paste or Garam-Masala or one of your other masala may be added too]
3. Heat 1 tbsp dalda/vanaspati or ghee or cooking oil in a tempering pan and keep it aside.
4. Add maida/plain flour to the mixture in the bowl little by little and knead it into a soft dough. When you have a sticky dough, add in the melted dalda and knead well.
5. Add in more flour if needed to make a nice dough that doesn't stick to your fingers completely. But we don't need a hard dough. We need a wet, soft, sticky, rubbery dough. (softer than chapathi dough). Note: Do not add any water while kneading the dough. Sugar when mixed with banana and curds gives out enough water to knead a dough. If needed add more curds or buttermilk.
6. Spread bit of oil over the dough to keep it moist and prevents drying of the outer layer of the dough.
7. Wet a thin cloth or paper-towel, squeeze out all the excess water, cover the dough completely with this damp cloth and allow it to rest at room temperature for 7-8 hours. The wet cloth helps retain moisture during rising of the dough. Make sure the cloth isn't too wet and is just damp enough.
8. After at least 6 hours, lightly knead the dough before you make buns. Make tiny lemon sized balls of the dough, roll it out a little using flour to dust. Don't flatten the balls too much, keep them thick. This dough does not roll into round shapes so I use one of my glass bowls to press it into all even round shapes. You may use a cookie cutter too.
9. Heat up oil for deep frying, test if the oil is rolling hot by dropping a small piece of dough. If the dough emerges on top of the oil, that means the oil's hot enough. Lower the flame to medium heat. If the oil's not heated up yet, wait for another 3-4 minutes.
10. Dust excess flour off the rolled pooris and fry them one by one on medium flame. As soon as you drop the pooris into the oil they puff up beautifully, flip them over, keep them pressed under the oil for few seconds, that helps the puri puff up more.
11. Once they are cooked on both the sides and are golden brown, remove the poori from the hot oil and place it in a bowl lined with paper towel.

What do you need:

• Plantain - 1 (Skin peeled and cut into 4mm slices)
• Channa besan (Bengalgram flour) - 2 cups
• Rice flour 3 tsp
• Sujji Rawa 2 tsp
• Chilly powder to taste
• Salt to taste
• Hing (Asafetida) 1/8 tsp
• Baking soda 1/8 tsp (Optional)

How to make Balekhai Bajji:
* Mix all the dry ingredients and add water slowly to form a thick paste.
* Heat oil at medium-high and verify it has heated up by putting a small drop of the mixture that you just made
* Dip the vegetable in the paste and deep fry turning once to fry the other side. Once done, place the bajjias on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
*Bajji is ready! Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Balekhai Fry: Wash and peel the skin of the Plantain. ( apply oil to your hands and on a knife to help in washing plantain stains) Cut plantains into 5mm thin slices. Add fry masala and let it marinate for 5 minutes.






Put a flat griddle/tawa on low fire. Apply oil to the tawa. In a plate take Sujji Rawa for dipping. Take a piece of marinated plantain, make sure all the sides are covered with masala, after dipping the plantain pieces in Sujji rawa, place it on the tawa. Repeat the same with rest of plantain peices and arrange them side by side on the tawa. Turn the burner to medium.
Cover the tawa and cook for 8 minutes. Then apply little oil and flip the plantain pieces over to cook the other side. Cook for 5 more minutes or until done.

Serve as appetizer or side dish along with hot rice and rasam.

Variations: Instead of plantain, use Potato slices or Cauliflower. For Cauliflower, after mixing the flowerets with masala, add Sujji rawa and mix and spread on tawa for cooking.

Even fish can be fried in the same way. Here in the picture I prepared Salmon. Since slices are bit thick the burner should be set to medium low. For fish, Ghee can be used instead of oil for better taste and reducing fish smell.