Gosale Podi (Pan Fried Ridge Gourd)

Gosale Podi is a simple side dish made using ridge gourd. The ridge gourd slices are seasoned and dipped in semolina. It is then fried on a pan until golden brown. This simple way of cooking ridge gourd was suggested by a friend. 

Ridge gourd is one of the vegetables I hated to the core. I never enjoyed any dishes using ridge gourd except for the chutney made using its peel. But now my views have completely changed!! After getting 15- 20 ridge gourds from my garden, I had to find some way to use it. I fried them on a pan (as suggested by a friend) and they tasted so good that I had to post the recipe. Do try making this simple dish and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Ridge gourd, medium sized - 2
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Asafoetida - A big pinch
• Semolina (sooji or rava) - 2-3 Tbsp
• Salt - To taste
• Oil - 1-2 Tbsp

Procedure:

Wash the ridge gourd and pat it dry. Then remove the tough ridges using a knife or peeler.

Now make 1/2 inch thick slices of the ridge gourd as shown below.

Now spread the slices in a wide bowl or plate. Then sprinkle red chilli powder, asafoetida and salt. Mix such that all the slices gets a coating on both sides.

Heat a pan. Then start dipping each slice in rava on both sides. 

Then place it on the hot pan one by one. Once done, add little oil all over and allow it to cook until it turns golden brown.

Then flip each slice using a fork. Add oil, if desired. Then cook on the other side till it turns golden brown.

Once done, turn off the heat. Transfer them to a plate. Gosale Podi is ready!!

Serve hot along with rice and any curry of your choice. Above measurement serves two people.

Read More »

Piyava Bajo (Onion Fritters)

Onion and Garlic are my favorite ingredients in my kitchen. They add a lot of taste and flavor to many dishes. I love onion so much that we always get a big bag for two of us!! Onion Pakoda (or bajji or bajo) is a very popular Indian fritter. Sliced or chopped onions are coated in batter along with few spices and then deep fried. They taste 'The Best' right out of the oil. They taste so amazing that you can eat couple of batches. 

There are so many variations of these fritters available on internet. I love many recipes but somehow feel that they (not all) are greasy (the reason being - Onion tends to leave some moisture after a while when mixed in the batter. This makes the mixture little watery and hence the fritters absorb more oil). Hence I tried making it without adding any water. It turned out very good. I roughly adapted my mother's recipe. Do try making the fritters without any water and find out the difference :-)

Ingredients:

• Onion, roughly chopped - 2 cups
• Besan (chickpea flour) - 1/2 cup
• Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
• Coriander seeds, coarsely powdered - 1 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Asafoetida - A big pinch
• Hot Oil - 2 tsp
• Salt - To taste
• Oil - For deep frying

Procedure:

Chop the onion roughly and transfer them in a bowl. Add some salt and let it sit for 10 minutes so that it lets go off moisture.

Then add rice flour, besan, red chilli powder, asafoetida, coriander powder, hot oil.

Mix well until everything comes together. Don't add any water.

Then drop small amount of batter at a time in preheated oil.

Fry until it turns golden brown. Then remove and drain the excess oil on a paper towel. 

Piyava Bajo is ready!!

Serve it hot. Above measurement serves two people.

Read More »

Mashinga Palle Ambado (Drumstick Leaves Fritters)

Mashinga Palle Ambado is a rice based fritter with added flavor from drumstick leaves. I got this recipe from a cook book written by Jaya V Shenoy. Every year as the monsoon sets in, taikilo (cassia tora) leaves which is a weed (but edible) grows abundantly in my native (Coastal region of Karnataka). My mother makes fritters using those leaves, every year and it is our family favorite. It has been four years since I ate those yummy fritters. So I decided to substitute drumstick leaves and it tasted somewhat similar. I was very happy, the way it turned out. Do try this version if you get a chance to lay your hands on drumstick leaves. I am sure you all will enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1/2 cup
• Toordal* - 1/4 cup
• Drumstick leaves**, packed - 1 cup
• Dry Red Chilli - 6-7
• Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen - 1 tsp
• Tamarind - A small piece
• Salt- To Taste
• Oil - For Deep frying

*You can substitute Chanadal for Toordal.

**You can substitute taikilo (cassia tora) or radish greens for drumstick leaves.

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice, toordal in water, for two hours.

While it is soaking, wash the drumstick leaves and pat dry using a towel. Then remove all the leaves from the tough stalk.

Then give a rough chop.

Once the rice and toordal gets well soaked, drain the water completely and set it aside. Now grind dry red chilli, grated coconut, salt and tamarind (without adding water).

Then add the drained rice - toordal mixture and grind it further to get a coarse sticky paste.

The final mixture somewhat looks like this (not too fine or not too coarse).

I hope its clear from the picture. The crushed rice grains should not be too coarse or turned to a paste. Making this paste is a very important step. Once the rice mixture is ready, start heating the oil. Check for salt in the rice mixture.

If the oil is hot enough then, its time to add the chopped leaves (this has to be done absolutely at the end because they give out moisture when mixed with rice mixture. If the moisture content in the final mixture is more, then the fritters will absorb more oil. Hence this is another important step) to the rice mixture. The final mixture just before frying looks like this.

Now make small balls of the mixture and just flatten them slightly like this-

Fry them (don't over crowd while frying and the flame should be medium-high) in hot oil until they turn crispy and dark brown on both sides. 

Once it is done, drain them on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Mashinga Palle Ambado is ready!!

Serve it hot with rice and dalitoy. Above measurement serves two people.

Read More »

Bondi Bajo (Banana Blossom Fritters)

Bondi Bajo is a recent kitchen endeavor. Long back I had noted down this recipe in a hope to post this as I find a fresh banana flower. Unfortunately now I don't remember the source. 

Banana blossom (In Konkani we call it Bondi) is a favorite of mine. My mother makes the best upkari. Recently I found a giant, fresh banana flower in a farmer's market and bought it thinking of this recipe. Making fritters using this flower was completely new to me but I was confident that it would turn great. As expected they turned out very crispy and delicious. Do give this a try if you find a banana blossom. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did :-)

Ingredients:

• Banana Blossom (Bondi)*, chopped- 4 cups
• Besan/ Chickpea flour- 3/4 cup
• Rice Flour - 3/4 cup
• Green chili, chopped - 1-3
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Ginger, grated- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves, chopped - Few
• Onion, small sized - 1
• Salt- To taste
• Oil - For deep frying

* Substitute cabbage if you cant find banana blossom.

Procedure:

Take a banana blossom (bondi).

Now discard the first few tough layers (3-4).

Then wash it and pat dry using a paper towel or cloth. 

Now cut through the banana flower (horizontally as well as vertically) as shown  in the video below (click on it).

It looks like this.

Then chop it to get fine pieces. 

Put the chopped banana blossom in water (to avoid blackening).  Continue the same procedure until you get the desired quantity (I used half of the big flower).

In a big bowl add rice flour, besan, salt, red chilli powder, grated ginger, chopped green chilli and chopped curry leaves. Mix well.

Then add drained chopped banana blossom (bondi) and chopped onion (don't add water) to the flour mixture. Mix well until it comes together.
Now add small portions of the mixture in the pre heated oil until it turns golden brown.

Once done, drain the excess oil using a paper towel. Continue frying the rest of the mixture in batches. Bondi Bajo is ready!!

Serve it hot. Above measurement serves 3-4 people.

Read More »

Kyane Podi (Pan Fried Ripe Plantain)

Kyane Podi is a simple, low fat recipe. I got this recipe from my mother. This recipe is simple and very easy to put together. The sliced ripe plantains are well seasoned and then rolled in semolina. Finally it is pan fried to get a crisp outer cover.

Generally it is made using a special variety of banana - 'Nendrabale'. It is abundantly cultivated in Kerala. I wanted to prepare this from a long time. But somehow I couldn't get hold on good ripe plantains. This time I was lucky enough to get good ones. This is the first time I got them and it tasted somewhat like 'Nendrabale'. So decided to make them and they turned out just like the ones I remember eating as a kid. I love this recipe as it is very different. Do try it and I am sure kids will love this!!

Ingredients:

• Ripe Plantains- 2
• Red chilli powder - To taste
• Sooji/Semolina- 3-4 Tbsp (adjust accordingly)
• Oil - 1-2 tsp (for shallow frying)
• Salt- To taste 

Procedure:

Choose a plantain which is ripe (the skin should turn partially black).

Now chop off the ends and remove the peel. Then slice it as shown below (around 2 inch long and 1/2 inch thick).

Then put it in a bowl or plate and sprinkle red chilli powder and salt. Mix gently until every piece gets well seasoned.

Now take semolina in a small plate and start rolling each piece until it gets well coated on either sides. 

Then place them on a pre heated skillet. Add little oil on each piece and then allow it to cook on medium flame.

Once it turns crisp and golden brown, flip it.

Remove from the pan when done. Kyane Podi is ready!!

Serve it hot or warm. It can be served as a snack or as a side dish to rice and curry. Above measurement serves 2-3 people.

Read More »

Bhajji Ambado (Amaranth Leaves Fritters)

Bhajji Ambado is a delicious rice based fritter. In Konkani, bhajji means amaranth leaves. I got this recipe from my mother. My mother uses a different leaf called 'Taikilo', which grows abundantly in the monsoon season. I am a big fan of those fritters. Since I don't have access to taikilo (an edible weed), I just used amaranth leaves. Guess what? To my surprise, it tasted  similar to those fritters and I was on top of the world:-) I didn't even think that it would taste that good. Do try making these fritters and enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• Amaranth leaves, finely chopped - 1 cup, packed 
• Rice - 1 cup
• Grated Coconut, fresh/frozen - 1 Tbsp
• Dry Red chilli - 6-7
• Tamarind- A small piece
• Salt- To taste
• Oil - For deep frying

Procedure:

Wash and soak rice in water, for 2 hours.

While it is soaking, wash the amaranth leaves and pat dry using a towel. Then give it a rough chop.

Once the rice gets well soaked, drain the water completely. Now grind together the soaked rice, red chilli, grated coconut, tamarind and salt to get a coarse sticky paste (don't add water while grinding).

The final mixture somewhat looks like this (not too fine or not too coarse).

I hope its clear from the picture. The crushed rice grains should not be too coarse or turned to a paste. Making this paste is a very important step. Once the rice mixture is ready, start heating the oil. Check for salt in the rice mixture.

If the oil is hot enough then, its time to add the chopped leaves (this has to be done absolutely at the end because they give out moisture when mixed with rice mixture. If the moisture content in the final mixture is more, then the fritters will absorb more oil. Hence this is another important step) to the rice mixture. The final mixture just before frying looks like this.

Now make small balls of the mixture and just flatten them slightly like this-

Fry them (don't over crowd while frying and the flame should be medium-high) in hot oil until they turn crispy and dark brown on both sides. 

Once it is done, drain them on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Bhajji Ambado is ready!!

Serve it hot with rice and dalitoy. Above measurement makes 12- 14 fritters.

Read More »