Poha is a very famous dish. Aayi prepares some 3-4 types of poha. I like this one very much. Phova pitto is used in a variety of dishes like this. But aayi uses the Sambar powder for this. It tastes great. (I will blog about ‘phova pitto’ soon).
‘Phanna’ means ‘Tadka’ and ‘phovu’ is ‘poha’ in Konkani. The name ‘Phanni phovu’ is used because tadka(tampering) is used in this dish. We usually make different dishes with poha. To broadly classify them, – “kalayle phovu” poha mixed with coconut and other things, no heating of any ingredients.This is prepared usually prepared for evening snack. I will blog about them soon. This has atleast 3-4 types in it. – “phanni phovu”,where in the ingredients are heated or cooked
Ingredients: Poha (avalakki) of medium thinkness 2 cups Onion 1 Potato 1 Sambar powder ½ tea spn Mustard seeds, Urad daal ½ tea spn each Sugar ½ tea spn Turmeric a pinch Curry leaves 7-8 Oil/ghee 1 tea spn Coriander leaves (Optional) 3-4 strands Grated Coconut (Optional) 1 tbl spn Salt.
Method: Soak poha in water and squeeze out the water. Keep it aside for 5 minutes, so that poha becomes soft. Heat oil/ghee and add mustard seeds and urad daal. When they start spluttering, add curry leaves. Add finely chopped onion and fry till onions turn slightly brownish is color. Add potatoes cut into very small pieces. Add turmeric, if required, sprinkle some water (do not add more water), cover and cook till potatoes are cooked. Add poha, sugar, salt, sambar masala and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and coconut. Serve hot.
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 20min
If I claim I have a Konkani food blog, anybody will ask the question “have you blogged about our great Batate Song ??”. If my answer is “no”, then I definitely can’t claim of having a Konkani food blog. All I meant to say is, batate song (do not confuse this song with English ‘Song’) is a very very famous dish and every Konkani person is a great fan of it.
I still remember, when I was a kid, we visited my maternal grandmother’s house in Sirsi(A place near the Sahyadri mountain range, very famous for its Marikamba temple ) during every summer vacations. My grandmother was a great cook. I still wonder where our older generations learnt so many great recipes. She always prepared this for us. This dish tastes great when made real spicy. It is usually beautiful red in color as if somebody has prepared it only using chillies.
This dish is prepared more than one ways, this version is what aayi follows. Here is the version without coconut.
Ingredients: 2 cups boiled and chopped potatoes 1/2 cup chopped onion 3/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut 1/2 tea spns tamarind extract or 2-3 pieces of tamarind 7-8 red chillies (Add as much as your taste buds can tolerate) Oil 1 tea spn coriander seeds Salt
Method: Cook potatoes, peel them and cut into big pieces. Chop onions into medium size pieces.
Fry coconut(without oil) till it turns just reddish. Grind with coriander seeds, red chillies and tamarind to a very smooth paste. Heat oil and fry onions till they turn translucent. Add potatoes, ground masala and salt. If required, add a bit of water and let it cook till the masala is completely cooked and gravy is thick. Serve hot with rice or alayle pita rotti .
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 25min
