As a team of foodies ourselves, we love to explore cuisines. We also find it blasphemous to not have food from the regional cuisine when on vacation. So here is your guide to Mangalorean Cuisine! If you are a food enthusiast who plans to travel to Mangalore, this blog is for you!

Mangalore (Mangaluru) is a port city in the coastal region of Karnataka. Being a coastal town, seafood occupies the majority of their dietary habits. You can only imagine the daily intake of omega-3 by Mangaloreans.

In terms of culture, Mangalore’s cuisine pot is a melt of Catholic cuisine, Mughal delicacies, Brahmin-Hindu eats with a touch of mainland Karnataka Cuisine. Hence, from Catholics’ Sanna-Dukra Maas (Sanna – idli fluffed with toddy or yeast; Dukra Maas – Pork), Pork Bafat, Mughal Mutton Biryani to delicacies like dosa, vadas and rasam, Mangalore has a lot to offer to its tourists!

Here are Five Must-try Dishes of Mangalorean cuisine that will help you understand the land’s culinary culture-

1- Gassi

Our first dish is made by a delicate spice mix containing stir-fried Zeera, Coriander, Mustard, curry leaves and red chillis. These stir-fried spices are then blended with sauteed onion and garlic to form a hot and spicy paste. Coconut milk is largely used as a base for almost every Mangalorean curry. For protein elements, Gassi can have mutton, seafood, chicken, channa dal, paneer or even tofu! Gassi is served with Korri roti, neer dosa or even rice.

Most of the non-vegetarian dishes also come with a side of Paddy-  a popular country liquor prepared from coconut flower sap!

2- Goli Bajji

Goli Bajji is a perfect Mangalorean evening snack! The dish has sweet and sour notes, a bun that can be eaten by itself or with chutney. It is usually made from maida and curd and then fried to give it a crispy texture. Gola Bajji is often called Mangalore Bonda due to its resemblance to Mumbai’s Bonda. Gola Bajji can become your go-to tea-time snack!

3- Chicken Ghee Roast

The Dish started its journey in a small Mangalorean town called Kundapur. Chicken Ghee roast is rich in taste and culture. The delicacy was made by the old inhabitants of Kundapur from a spice-mix of curry leaves, pepper, coconut, red chilli etc. Ghee roast as the name suggests is made by roasting meat and spices in ghee and let it succumb to heat and the richness of ghee. The dish is sizzling red, tangy and spicy - a true Mangalorean delicacy!

4- Biryani

Biryani is one of the most diverse rice preparations. India has over 20 variants of this dish, belonging to different regions of the country. Mangalore has its own version of this delicacy. The most popular Mangalorean version is prawn biryani. It is your usual Dum Biryani with a twist - coconut milk, lots of green chillies, saffron and caramelised onion are added to it apart from the typical ingredients. The biryani is balanced, refreshing and delicious!

5- Red Lobster Masala

Since there is plenty of seafood to go around the port city, Lobster is a common eat of Mangalore. One of the most famous curries includes Red Lobster Masala which is often served with dosa or rice & paddy drink. The beautiful lobster is cooked slowly in a pressure cooker halfway and then stir-fried in a spice mix before adding coconut milk for the curry. The spice mix itself smells exotic and contain all vibrant fresh spices like coriander, jeera, chilli, mustard etc. The meat is then cooked to perfecting and serves hot!

This was all about the famous Mangalorean cuisine. Safe to say, you cant sum up a port town in a few paragraphs, so go on and check out the beautiful city! Say tuned for more blogs on regional cuisines.