My version of Konkani Phodis.
I cook this so often for lunches and dinner I thought I should write this recipe down so that I can pass it on to my friends and family.
Ever since I tasted this from my friend’s lunch box, I wanted to try cooking it at home! It was so soft on the inside, crispy on the outside with perfect combination of seasonings. Phodi is a side dish from the Konkani cuisine.
It can be made with a variety of vegetable choices. I have tried potatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, radish, bitter gourd, pineapple version of it so far. Yes, I did not spare the pineapple as well! But it did not turn out great. Rest of them were a hit!
The crispiness of the phodis comes from the use of semolina/rava. Until then I had not used semolina/rava other than for making uppit or kersri bhat.
This is how I make it. The ratio of ingredients I have mentioned is enough for one eggplant/potato and serves two.
There are three parts to it:
- Choosing a vegetable of your choice and slicing them
- Making a coating for the sliced vegetables
- Shallow frying the coated slices along with steaming.
Slicing
I first slice the veggies of choice into medium thick slices in the form of coin. I keep it thick so that its fleshy to eat when cooked. I then allow the veggies to marinate with salt and turmeric for 10 mins. This process results in dehydration to an extent allowing vegetables to cook quicker.
Coating
At the same time, I also prepare the mix needed for coating which is a mix of semolina(3tbsp), chilli powder(0.5 tbsp), salt(1-2tsp), turmeric powder(0.5 tsp) and hing(0.5 tsp optional).
Steam cooking on tawa
After resting for 10 mins, dip the sliced veggies one by one in the coating mixture and allow the mixture to stick to veggies on both the sides.
Read the next steps carefully because this will make or break the dish.
Heat the tawa or frying pan and smear oil all over the tawa. Reduce the flame to low once tawa is heated. Place the coated slices one by one till the tawa can accommodate.
Spread oil all over the surface of the coated slices, preferably coconut oil. Yes, this is an oil intensive recipe.
Sample of smearing oil on top of slices on the left.
Cover the tawa with a lid once the oil is smeared. This slow cooking along with the steam that gets generated is what makes the veggies to be cooked to soft perfection.
PS: Do not keep checking by taking the lid off as this will let the steam escape.
Let it cook for 2 minutes.
Turn off the flame while the lid remains closed and let the steam do its magic for the next 3 to 4 mins. At the end of this process, one side of the phodi would be cooked to soft inside and crisp outside.
Open the lid now and flip the veggies/phodis. Smear oil again. You can apply less oil here as you have applied some to tawa already. Same process repeat.
Cook in low flame for 2 minutes with lids closed and allow steam to take over for the next 4 minutes.
Voila! Perfect phodis are ready to be served! Enjoy!
Happy Cooking!