Breads of the Konkan- Mangalore buns

Goa is good to bread lovers. There's a variety of pao brought around throughout the day by the cycle-borne poder tooting his horn. There's sanna- fermented in toddy and eaten with sorpotel and disc-shaped poi/ poli/ bhakri. But this post isn't about Goan breads, it's about a bread from further south in the Konkan- Mangalore buns.

Buns- /bʌn/

noun

sing. buns, plural buns

Native to Udupi and Mangalore

Bear a superficial resemblance to puris

Ingredients- Flour, sugar, salt, bananas, jeera.

Directions- Ferment overnight, shape into balls and deep fry

In other words- these are pillowy sweet- savoury clouds of goodness. And you can get them at two places in Benaulim- unassuming Geeta Hotel at the turn for Taj Exotica and Priti Hotel, which assumes even less, near La Grace, Benaulim. The bun-frying starts at 8 am and if you time it right, you can get them straight from the kadai onto your plate. I usually stop by after my Sunday morning cycle ride and watch the steam escape as the buns collapse onto themselves, before wrapping them in newspaper and taking them home.

This post is not sponsored by Geeta Hotel or Priti Hotel. I'm just a happy, buns-filled consumer

* "Galyat sakhli sonyachi, hi pori konachi" is familiar to all of India from the Hindi version of the song in Dil Hai ki Maanta Nahin. So imagine my surprise when I heard the original konkani song's lyrics:

Galyat sakhli sonyachi Wearing a gold chain around her neck

Hi pori konachi Whose daughter is she?

Aiee bhi kaali ani bapu bhi kaala The mother and father are dark

Hi gori pori konachi? Whose daughter is this fair girl?

Aiee bhi bevdi ani bapu bhi bevda The mother and father are both drunks

Hi shahani pori konachi? Who's daughter is this good girl?

And it goes on in this vein, bad-mouthing the parents and speculating about the girl's real parentage.