Drumstick Fritters (Mashinga Sanga Bajo)

Here's the recipe for Konkani style yummy, spicy, crispy, crunchy drumstick fritters. They called as mashinga sanga bajo in Konkani. Bajo in Konkani means fritters that are deep fried, and mashinga sang refers to drumstick in Konkani.

These drumstick fritters are usually prepared for lunch, dinner as a side dish or starter. I bet, you'll fall in love with this Konkani cuisine delicacy, so why don't you give it a try? They are quick & easy to prepare. 

Picking the right drumsticks to make fritters:

Drumsticks best suited for making fritters are the ones that are thick. Thick drumsticks have a lot of flesh inside them, so you get to enjoy a good mouthful of drumstick flesh, as you chew into these deep fried drumstick fritters. Drumstick peel is coated with a thin layer of spicy masala, that gets crispy & crunchy on deep frying. That way the drumsticks will be crispy, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. As you pull in a bit of drumstick flesh along with the crispy, crunchy masala using your teeth, it's an amazing soft-crispy-crunchy, bland-spicy combination inside your mouth. So, you eat these drumstick fritters using your fingers, pull in the inside flesh & outer crispy batter & then throw away the hard drumstick peel. 

But please choose those drumsticks that are tender to make these fritters. Mature drumsticks have hard seeds, rubbery inner flesh and aren't a pleasure to eat. Tender drumsticks will be fleshy, that get soft on cooking, on the inside, will have soft seeds, which haven't started to harden yet. They are a real pleasure to eat.

You'll know how tender or mature drumsticks are by looking & pressing into the nodes of drumstick. As you press into drumstick nodes, you'll know how hard or soft the seeds are, in turn tell you how tender or mature they are. If they give in on pressing, they are tender & if they are too firm or are hard, then they've matured. Don't use those drumsticks.

Drumsticks that are a little thin or are medium thick also make yummy, crispy drumstick fritters. It's just that you might not get enough drumstick flesh as you eat them. Please avoid way too thin drumsticks to make these fritters. They aren't a pleasure to eat. 

In summary, thick, tender drumsticks are the best. Medium thick, tender, drumsticks are good enough. But tender drumsticks is what we need to use, to make yummy drumstick fritters, not mature drumsticks with hard seeds in them. Also, fresh drumsticks are the best to use. They tend to get a little bitter as days pass by, if are stored in the fridge & if they are stored outside at room temperature, then they tend to get dry.

Ingredients:

• 3 drumsticks
• 1/2 cup rice 
• 4 dried red chillies
• Tamarind - half lemon sized
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon of gram flour
• A pinch of crystal asafoetida dissolved in water
• Oil for deep frying

Serves: 3-4

Prep Time: 5-8 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Total preparation time: 45 minutes, cuz soaking rice takes 30 minutes (that would be passive time).

Preparation Method:

1. Soak rice in water for a minimum of 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the drumsticks.

Prepping the drum sticks:

2. Wash drumsticks well. Chop drumsticks into halves if they are thick, so that they cook through on deep frying. Or else the inside of drumsticks will remain raw. Then chop them into pieces of 2-3 inches in length.

If drumsticks are medium-thick, you can choose to keep to keep them whole. Just chop them into 2-3 inch long pieces. You do not have to halve them. 

Peel off any excess drumstick peel left around the edges of each piece.

3. Add a teaspoon full of salt to them and toss them well. Allow them to stand for 15 minutes so that they take up salt.

Preparing the batter:

4. Meanwhile, prepare the batter. Wash rice grains well and strain out all the water, after 30 minutes of soaking. 

5. Grind them along with dried red chillies, tamarind, crystal asafoetida dissolved in water and salt into a smooth paste using as little water as possible. We need a medium thick batter.

6. Transfer ground batter into a bowl, check and adjust salt. Add gram flour & mix well.

7. Add very little water if required to the batter. We want the batter between dripping thin and thick consistency. We want a layer of the batter to stick to the drumstick. If the batter's watery, then it'll drip off the drumsticks. 

If the batter gets watery, you can thicken it by adding a few teaspoons of gram flour. 

8. Heat up oil in a wok, for deep frying.

9. Add in drumstick pieces into the batter, coat them uniformly with the batter and then deep fry them until they are cooked through on medium heat.

You know they are cooked through, by the change in colour of the batter completely. 

Make sure the heat is set to medium, or else they get very crispy on the outside & remain raw on the inside. If the flame is low, then they tend to absorb in a lot of oil.

10. Transfer the fritters onto a paper towl to drain out excess oil. Similarly, fry rest of the fritters.

11. Serve them hot as a starter, side dish for lunch/dinner and enjoy!

Find more fritter (bajo, phodi) recipes here.

Tags: Drumstick fritters, mashinga sanga bajo, starter, side dish, Udupi cuisine, Mangalore food, Konkani cuisine, Konkani food, Konkani recipe.