Spine Gourd Fritters And Onion Crispies.

“Pagila / Kantola / Spine Gourd / Teasel Gourd ~ Fritters And Onion Crispies” ........

Tipa Tipa Barasa Paani … It’s monsoon …. Season of yummy fried snacks like bajos, pakodas, samosas, corns, fritters, soups, crispies …. Ohhhh ….. my list is endless ….... but here are some "Pagila / Kantola / Spine Gourd / Teasel Gourd ~ Fritters And Onion Crispie” ….... for time being …...... Go ahead and Enjoy them ….. till I get some more …..

I had lots of pagila / spine gourds at home. Pagila / spine gourd podi / fries is something every Konkani Saraswat likes and my family is no different. Any item with spine gourds are welcome and are relished with joy. So decided to stick to making of podi for lunch. But as usual I wanted to tweek it a little bit and make some minute changes and try it out with a little bit of difference. I added some diff. masala powders and a little bit of makkai ka atta along with rice flour. Mixed everything together and then deep fried them. They turned out simply great. There was a little bit of batter remaining, so I just sliced one onion finely lengthwise mixed it with the batter and deep fried them to get crispies. Here is my recipe of Spine gourd fritters and onion crispies. 

Wash and wipe 5-6 spine gourds / pagila and slice them lengthwise to 1/3 inch thickness. Keep them ready aside.

Now in a large bowl add 2 tblsp of besan / gram flour, 1 tblsp makkai ka atta / maize flour, 1 tblsp of rice flour, 1 tsp hing powder, ½ tsp fennel powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and salt to taste. Mix this well to a thick batter with some water. Keep the batter very thick, it should be thicker than pakoda batter.

Put the sliced spine gourds / pagila in the bowl and mix well coating the slices with the paste all round. Leave aside for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a thick bottomed kadai heat plenty of oil for deep frying the spine gourd / pagila slices. When the oil reaches smoking point, lower the temperature to medium and wait for a few minutes. Now rub each slice on the rim of the bowl on both sides to remove excess batter from the slices. Slide in the slices into the hot oil one by one after removing excess batter from each slice. Let the pagila / spine gourd slices fry for some time, then with the help of a ringed spatula, stir them and gently flip them over to fry evenly on all side. Fry the slice till done. When crispy and evenly browned, remove and put the fries on an absorbent paper for the excess oil to drain off.

Repeat the process with remaining slices in similar pattern till done. Now if there is excess batter remaining in the bowl as we have removed excess batter from the slices, add one onion sliced finely lengthwise, mix well with the batter to coat it and drop in small bunches into the hot oil. After few minutes with the help of the spatula gently stir the crispies to loosen / separate them. Fry till they turn out crispy. Remove and put them on an absorbent paper for the excess oil to get drained off. 

Serve these spine gourds / pagila fritters and onion crispies with any dip of your choice or with Dalitoy and sheetha (rice) the way I have done. Enjoy these fried items during monsoon when its pouring heavily outside. These are real comfort foods during such season.