Saturday, November 25, 2023

PoddaleBee- Nachani (Ragi)-Tandula Sanna Polo/ Snake Gourd Seeds- Finger Millet- Rice Spicy Dosa.


“PoddaleBee- Nachani (Ragi)-Tandula Sanna Polo/ Snake Gourd Seeds- Finger Millet- Rice Spicy Dosa” … sanna polo is a traditional side dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine served during meals … there are plenty of varieties of sanna polo and using tender snake gourd seeds is just one of them … I never discard those tender seeds from poddale, in fact I see to it that there are plenty of seeds within when I purchase snake gourd … this time I made a slight variation and added on nachani to make the dosa more nutritious … so, the next time don’t chuck off the snake gourd seeds, just try this dosa, it tastes wonderful … Yummilicious …

** Poddale beeyeche (snake gourd seeds) sanna polo is a common dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat’s Cuisine. Here the tender inner seeds of the poddale/ snake gourd are retained and prepared with the addition of rice, coconut and spices into a spicy flavorful dosa. Addition of any other ingredients other than red chilly are not done as they have their own aroma and taste wonderful as it is. I have lost the count on the times I have prepared these tasty dosas, and trust me it still stands my most favorite to date.

** Coming to Poddale/ Snake gourd it is a vegetable that is not liked by many. However, it is really is a very versatile veggie with a strong flavour of its own and can be prepared in many ways. We make simple upkari with this vegetable, but the spicy dosa prepared with the inner seeds of the vegetable is simply awesome. While the inner seeds are usually discarded by many, we GSB’s have a particular liking for dosa prepared with them. So the next time do not throw them away, but try these yummy dosa’s.

** I have shared many sanna polo versions of my own along with traditional ones from our cuisine, which you will find all if you browse through the common link shared at the bottom of this recipe. I have mentioned often that I love adapting nachani/ ragi/ finger millet into dishes to give them a twist and make it that much more nutritious. I have prepared sanna polo using it before too, this time I tried it out with poddale bee ie inner seeds of snake gourd and it turned out crisp and perfect to be served during meals.

** Here is the simple method of preparing these healthy version of “PoddaleBee- Nachani (Ragi)-Tandula Sanna Polo/ Snake Gourd Seeds- Finger Millet- Rice Spicy Dosa” … My Style …

** Ingredients :
Surti kolam Rice/ any Ordinary Rice : 1 cup
Nachani/ Nanchane/ Ragi Pitti/ Finger Millet Flour : 1 cup
Poddale Bee/ Inner seeds of Snake Gourd : 2 cups
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : ½ cup freshly grated.
Kashmiri Red Chilly/ Byadgi Mirchi/ Kumte Mirsanga : 6-8
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : small marble sized piece
Hinga Uddaka / Water prepared out of Asafoetida in gummy form : 1 tblsp
(Check how to prepare hinga uddaka at the bottom of this recipe)
OR
Hing / Asafoetida Powder : 1tsp
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste

** Oil/ Tel/ Tela + Ghee/ Toop mixed in proportion 1:1 for removing the dosas. You can use only oil if desired too. 


** Wash and soak surti kolam rice (thick variety) in plenty of water for 2 hours. Wash again and drain off the water completely.

** Chop the inner seeds of the poddale/ snake gourd and keep them ready. You should have about 2 cups pieces. If the inner seeds are less in quantity then you can some finely chopped tender side of the veggie to the same too.

** To be ground : In a mixer grinder add freshly grated coconut, red chillies, tamarind and grind to a fine paste adding minimum water. You can increase or decrease the amount of chillies depending upon individual taste.

** Now add in the inner seeds of snake gourd and further grind all together until the seeds are crushed and well mixed within. This does not take much time, when done remove the ground paste into a wide stainless steel bowl.

** Now add the drained rice into the mixer grinder and grind with minimum water to a fine rava texture. Remove and add this to the ground paste in the bowl. The rice should be ground equally well but there is no need to grind it very fine.

** Add nachani (ragi/ finger millet) flour, salt to taste, 1 tblsp of hing uddaka (asfoetida water) or powder and mix all the ground ingredients well. Add required amount of water to the batter to bring to a thick textured batter.

** Note : The batter should not be thin, but thick enough to spread on the tava by patting it directly on tava like we do for rava bhakri. You can also use a small rounded spatula to pour in the batter if not comfortable with patting method.

** Cover and keep the prepared batter to rest aside for 15 minutes. The nachani flour must soften and absorb water and this step is necessary to get soft textured dosas. Before preparing dosa check out the texture of batter, if you find it too thick then add some water and if you find it too soft then do not worry, just add a few tablespoons of rice powder and mix well to bring in to desired consistency of the batter.

** To remove Sanna Polo/ Dosa : Heat a non-stick or Iron tava, when hot lower the heat and apply little bit of oil+ghee and spread well with the help of a tissue paper/ brush. Now take a handful of the mixture, roll it into a ball loosely, put it on tava and press it down to pat it equally to form a small round dosa. You can dip you palms and wet your fingers slightly in water if necessary, which will help you to pat it conveniently, but do be careful. If not comfortable then just use a large sized spoon to pour the dosa and then pat it with the back of a tumbler or spatula evenly.

** Note : You can prepare dosas of desired size, you can put small 4-5 dosas at a time on the tava or one medium sized only. I use a tava which has seven dents in it and they hold the dosas in shape equally in the same size. You can purchase this from the market as it is readily available. You can check out the added photo for the same in other sanna polo posts of which link I have posted below. This tava falls useful in preparation of all sanna polo items as well as small sized dosas or bhakri’s.

** Sprinkle a few drops of oil+ghee all round the rim of dosa and a few drops on top of the dosa too. Cook on medium to low heat and once the bottom side of the dosa is cooked then gently loosen it through the sides and flip it over to cook the top portion of the dosa. Cook until done well on both sides, they should turn crisp and brown for best of taste. Remove and keep it aside and continue with the remaining mixture following the same method to remove the required number of dosa you need.

** Note : You can keep the remaining mixture in a airtight stainless steel box in the fridge and use it the next day too, it remain well if stored in immediately. Just remove and allow to thaw at room temperature for 15 mins before removing dosa.

** “PoddaleBee- Nachani (Ragi)-Tandula Sanna Polo/ Snake Gourd Seeds- Finger Millet- Rice Spicy Dosa” is done and ready to be served. Serve them hot directly from tava for best of taste. These are spicy mini sized dosas that are served during meals along with other dishes in Konkani homes. Tastes best served with Dalitoy (spiced tuvar dal) or Tomato Saaru/ Saar or with any other curries of your choice along with steamed rice. Do try out these dosas and enjoy your meals with family.

** Veggies and fruits must be included into our daily diet as much as possible for a healthy lifestyle. These days somehow we are moving more towards instant packaged food to which preservatives are added on which is the main cause for health issue especially in case of children who eat high fat food like cheese, colas, butter, ghee loaded dishes. Most of us are reluctant to eat veggies as we are more into taste, there are plenty of dishes in this Blog where you will find best usage of veggies along with taste and this is just one such dish. It’s one the best way of using the otherwise waste inner seeds of poddale/ snake gourd, so the next time do give it a try, sure to like it. 

** For Preparing of Hing / Asafoetida Water From Gummy Hing : Hing water is prepared by putting a small marble sized gummy hing (available in South Indian Stores) into a glass bottle and adding about a small cup of boiled and cooled water to it. Within a few hours the hing will slowly melt and you will get a thick whitish liquid. This is hing water. You can keep this in the fridge and use sparingly as and when needed. We GSB / Saraswat Konkani people usually prepare the same and keep it in the fridge always and use the same for dal, patrado or any other humman etc. If you do not have the gummy hing, no issues, you can add hing / asafoetida powder in which case always add it into the hot oil while tempering to get a good aroma.

** I am including below a common link to all of the "Sanna Polo" dishes posted before in the Blog before, do browse through and try out that which appeals to your family. Though I have included pictures in this post for easy understanding of the procedure of preparation of sanna polo, many of the older posts too include more information and step by step pictures which may be helpful if novice, so check them out if needed.

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