Potato Spicy Fritters (Batate Tandla Pitta Phodi)

I made these fritters some time back from an inspired version which comes from my Ma's traditional Phodi preparations. Since I did not have time to soak the rice, I used Rice flour (Tandlaa Peet) and Idli Rava. I prefer using Rice based batter over Gram Flour (Besan) because the fritters are super crispy and work well on our health and metabolism. Incidentally, my Ammama never liked using Besan and used Rice flour all through for deep fried preparations when she managed the kitchen and the daily meals. The batter for these fritters are not runny but should be sticky and thick (chikchiki). The only thing is one needs to guard the fritters with hawks eye and fry them on medium-to-high flame and remove them once they are crispy (kurkuri).

Ma soaks the rice and grinds the washed rice to a coarse wet batter along with red chillies. I refined her recipe for an easier version with less labor. In the bargain, I also save my blender from extra load as my blender hates grinding rice and lentils. The batter can be frozen and thawed and used to deep fry smaller batches of Fritters /Phodi.

Happy New Year to All!

It feels great to usher and welcome yet another year and still find the time and liberty to pursue one's hobby and passion. Last year has been a pleasant discovery of flavors, textures and aromas on the food front. I also became an efficient cook and baker which in turn helped me plan my time well so that I am not caught up in the kitchen all the time. I also decided to jam the breaks on the postings and thereby enable myself to focus on other personal and professional goals. All this for the love of food and eating!

I plan to dig deep and discover more facets of Konkani cuisine this year. No matter which food I eat, my heart still comes back to Dalitoy and Patrodo. :)

~ Batate Tandla Pitta Phodi ~
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Potatoes (peeled and sliced) - 10 slices
Oil

For the batter -
Rice Flour - 1 and 1/2 cup
Idli Rava - 1/2 cup
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt

Method:

Wash and peel the Potatoes to get rid of grime and dirt. Wash the slices to get rid of all the starch. Pat dry with a paper towel and keep aside. Make a thick sticky batter of rice flour and idli rava. The batter should not be runny at all, so add water little by little. Add red chilli powder, salt and asafoetida now. Mix well and keep aside for 5-10 minutes. Heat oil for deep frying and dip the potato slices so that each slice has an even coating of the batter. Deep fry on both sides till they are crispy (kurkuri) and are a shade darker upon frying. Serve hot or warm as a side dish.