“Pagila (Kantola/ Teasel Gourd/ Spine Gourd) Masala Fry (Dry Bhaji)” … It's the season of Pagila, here is a simple side dish that tastes great served along with other dishes …. Do try it out ... Yummilicious ...
** Pagila/Kantola/ Teasel Gourd/Spine Gourd is a favorite seasonal veggie loved by almost all those who have access to it. You get really huge ones in the city of Calcutta which have very tender seeds within. The same is available in Mumbai, but somehow I have not seen much of it in the last two years and only the local variety is available in plenty. The small ones are usually used in preparation of curry/bhaji while the larger one’s are sliced and prepared as fries. Pagila Podi/ Fries is the most sought after dish when in season in my community and we almost relish it on daily basis till season lasts. The crop has just come in and so a lot of mixture of large and smaller ones are sold together and the veggie vendor will have no argument, well his say is final I guess, so you have them all mixed. I often prepare this simple bhaji/ masala fry with the smaller tender ones which I learned 30 yrs back from my neighbor a Bengali Aunty. The taste lies in cooking it in oil on slow heat till done and the oil content is slightly on the higher side like for batate katla upkari which we prepare. But taste wise, when served as side dish its simply awesome and you can finish a large bowl as it is too. I have two variations in this, this is the first one that somehow got missed blogging for a year, the second method I will post in the coming weeks, so till then enjoy this one with your loved ones.
** Here is my simple recipe for “Pagila (Kantola/ Teasel Gourd/ Spine Gourd) Masala Fry (Dry Bhaji)” ... My Style ...
** Wash about 15-20 pagila/kantola/spine gourd. Check properly to see if there is dust particles within the spine/skin portion as it always sticks firmly there. Snip/slice off both the side edges and cut them lengthwise into 4 pieces. Keep this ready aside. If the seeds within are red, there is no need to discard those pagila, you can use them too, in this particular dish it does not matter. You can see a few that I have added in the picture.
** Heat 3 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed kagai, you can use iron kadai for best results. When the oil is hot, add in ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera), ½ tsp mustard seeds(rai/sasam), a few seeds of fenugreek (methi), a pinch of ajwain and fry for minute. Add in 8-10 curry leaves, mix well and then add in ½ tsp of haldi (turmeric) powder, ½ tsp hing (asafoetida) powder, 1 tsp of dhania (Coriander) powder, ½ tsp jeera (cumin) powder, 1 tsp of amchur (dried mango) powder and 2 tsp of Kashmiri Red chilly powder.
** Fry the above for a second and then add in the prepared and kept ready pagila / spine gourd pieces, salt to taste and mix well. If you find it too dry or if you have added in less of oil, you can sprinkle some water, but the taste of this dish lies in slow cooking in oily based masala powder. Cover with a flat lid, place a small bowl of water on top and let cook in its own steam till done. In between do open the lid and mix it properly for even cooking and at intervals raise the heat to maximum so that the pagila get fried on its skin to give a charred look and taste.
** “Pagila (Kantola/ Teasel Gourd/ Spine Gourd) Masala Fry (Dry Bhaji)” is done and ready to be served. This is a simple but delicious side dish that goes very well as an accompaniment. Do try out this dish and I suggest if you have Iron kadai, use the same, the texture and the final outcome of the dish is different when done in Iron kadai, the taste is simply awesome. Do raise the heat for that charred look and taste, it simply yumz. Children will definitely eat this dish without a murmur as it is joy to eat the crunch seeds within the pagila.
** I am sharing a common link to dishes with “Pagila” in Blog. Please do check out on the same and try out different option.
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