Peel the bananas and mash them well. Add the cumin seeds, sugar, salt, baking soda, and yogurt and mix well. Mix in all of the whole wheat flour. Add as much of the all-purpose flour (all or a little more if needed) and knead by hand, into a soft dough that is very slightly sticky.

I prefer mixing this dough by hand because it is easy to assess the texture of the dough. It’s not a very difficult dough to knead by hand. Cover loosely and set the dough to ferment in a cool place, for about 8 to 10 hours. The dough will become a bit looser and elastic once it has rested enough.

If you’re not making the Mangalore Buns right away, refrigerate the dough till required but not for more than half a day. The dough may discolour slightly.

When ready to shape the dough, mix the 2 tbsp ghee into the dough. Pinch off large lemon sized balls and lightly roll out into about 1/4-inch thick rounds about 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Dust your working surface and the dough balls lightly with a little flour while rolling them out. Do not roll the rounds out very thin.

Heat the oil for deep frying. The oil should not be very hot but hot enough for slow frying. Drop a small piece of dough into it. If it rises slowly to the top the oil is hot enough. Turn the heat down to medium. Ensure that the oil never gets too hot throughout while deep frying.

Dust the excess flour off the rolled out dough rounds. Gently slip them into the oil, one at a time, and fry. Once in the oil, they will puff up gently. Turn them over, lightly press down on them with a slotted spoon for a few seconds to encourage to puff up completely. Let them fry, over medium heat, till uniformly deep golden brown on both sides. It will take a little time for each Bun to cook through.

Remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper towels. Serve warm or at room temperature as they are or with Coconut Chutney and/ or Sambhar.