Spine gourd fritters
Deep fried veggie fritters are an integral part of konkani cuisine. No meal is complete without some fried goodness, and in the festive season, they hold a very special place. Here are some spine gourd fritters but you can make these pretty much out of any vegetable - bitter gourd, breadfruit, cauliflower, yam, brinjal and even raw banana.
Fritters in konkani cuisine can be bhajo (dipped in besan or chickpea batter), phodi (deep fried with a coating of rice flour or shallow fried with rava coating) or ambado (shredded vegetables with a binding of rice flour). Today’s version are phodi which has two ways of making them. The traditional method of grinding rice and red chillies together and the easy shortcut method of using rice flour and chilli powder.
Cut the spine gourd into thin rounds and keep aside. Make sure that they are cut evenly, so that they are fried evenly.
Traditional method
What you'll need :
15 slices of vegetable
1/2 cup rice
5-6 red chillies
1 tsp asafoetida
salt as per taste
How to :
Soak rice in water for about 20 minutes. Grind it together with red chillies, asafoetida and salt to a coarse paste and very less or no water. The paste should stick to the cut veggies and not flow off.
Shortcut method
What you'll need :
15 slices of vegetable
2 tbsp rice flour
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp asafoetida
salt as per taste
How to :
Coat the cut vegetables with salt (as per taste) and keep it aside for 10 minutes. Now add chilli powder, asafoetida and rice flour just enough to coat all the cut slices. Coating the vegetables in salt releases water from the veggies, and this is just enough to coat them with rice flour. Add a few drops of water, if you feel that the rice flour is not sticking to the cut slices.
In a deep frying pan, add enough oil and deep fry until the veggies turn golden brown and crisp. Drain on a kitchen towel and serve immediately with rice & dal.
