Heerekayi Bajji

Heerekayi bajji/ Ridge Gourd Fritters is essentially ridge gourd dipped in a spicy gram flour batter and deep-fried in oil. It’s a famous and common evening snack in South India, especially in Karnataka. Heerekayi Bajji is one of my favorite snacks since childhood; I love to eat these especially in the monsoon or winter season with a piping hot cup of masala chai. And the best thing about this tasty snack is that it could be prepared in under 20 minutes. So whenever you have a snack craving and a ridge gourd laying in your refrigerator, you know what to prepare! 😉

Apart from Ridge gourd, vegetables like onion, capsicum, potato, or raw banana(Plantain) also could be used to make bajjis. Depending on the use of vegetable, the taste of every bajji varies. So if you have stocked up plenty of vegetables, now is a good time to use them up. 😛 Continue reading if you want to know how to make this simple and tasty tea-time snack.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Servings: 3

ingredients:

1 medium ridge gourd, thinly sliced
1 cup gram flour(besan)
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, for deep frying

procedure:

1. Rinse and slice ridge gourd into thin roundels. Keep aside.
2. In to a large mixing bowl, add gram flour, red chilli powder, salt, and water. Combine well to make a smooth, thick, no-lump batter and set aside.
3. Heat vegetable oil (enough to deep fry battered ridge gourd) in a frying pan on medium heat.
4. To check if the oil is hot enough for deep frying, drop a small droplet of batter into the oil. The ideal temperature for deep-frying is – as soon the batter is dropped, it should come back to the surface. 
5. Dip sliced ridge gourd in the batter one after the other and deep fry until they turn golden brown on both sides. Remove them from oil and place on a paper towel to drain out excess oil.
6. Enjoy hot bajjis right away with tomato ketchup or your favorite dip.

note:

• You can tweak the quantity of each ingredient as per your taste and preference.
• You can add 1/2 tsp of garam masala to the batter if you like some spice in the bajji.
• These bajjis/ fritters taste best right after deep frying.
• Instead of Ridge gourd, you could use sliced onions, Raw banana(Plantain), potato, and capsicum. 
• You could cover and store the batter in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. After which, you will have to add a small quantity of water to the batter and mix well before reusing.