Have some extra bananas that are ripe and waiting to be used? Then this is a good way to make use of the ripe bananas. This is a typical GSB (Gowd Saraswath Brahmin) dish, commonly made in the Konkani households. I do have to mention that many people refer to the deep fried version as Podi, however we refer to the pan fried version as Podi and the deep fried version as Bhajji.
Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside it is a total delight. The recipe could not be simpler. You cut the bananas, coat them in spicy rava/sooji mix and shallow fry them on a pan. In fact, you can substitute bananas with any other vegetable like potato, brinjal, raw banana, bitter gourd etc.
This is eaten as side dish along with rice, daal and any upkari/stir fried sabji.
Ingredients
- 2-3 ripe bananas (not very ripe, it should be able to hold its shape)
- 2 Tbsp fine sooji/rava/semolina
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- Salt to taste
- Oil (for shallow frying)
Method
- Peel the banana and chop into little less than ½ inch discs. I chopped them in the shape of rectangle. Keep aside.
- In a small dry plate mix the sooji/rava, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt.
- Now heat a tava or pan, when it is warm enough drizzle about 1 Tbsp of oil all around.
- Take each piece, coat them in the spicy sooji mix on both sides thoroughly (making sure no part is left open) and place them on the pan.
- Continue this process with some discs. Make sure not to over crowd the pan.
- Add about ¼ tsp of oil around each of the discs. This cooks very fast and the edges brown.
- Using a good spatula, turn each of the pieces around and cook on the other side. Transfer to a plate.
- Serve this as a side dish along with rice, daal or as a snack or appetizer along with tea.
Thanks for your wonderful recipe for banana bhajje. My wife (Pamela, turned out a batch this morning.They were so tasty that they got over before they reached the dining table. The plan was to serve them as an accompaniment with the moong ghashi and tendli talasani on a bed of rice (thanks to Redchillies).The next time we will control ourselves.In our south canara household, any fried items with a “besan”(chickpea flour)coating are referred to as “bhajje”, while those with a coating of rice pwd or semolina are called “phodi”.My grandmother used to grind whole red chillies, sea salt, brown rice(raw) and “hing”(asafoetida) and coat a variety of chopped veggies with this thick batter and deep fry till golden brown. Green bananas, jack fruit, chopped cabbage, sweet potatoes, brinjals and even raddish turn out great.Salt 250gm of Beaten and flattened white raddish pieces( 2inches). Keep aside for an hour. Squeeze out all the excess water. Dip in the above mentioned rice batter and deep fry till golden brown. Serve with dal and rice.Phodis with other veggies is very easy, just cut slices 1/4th inch thick, dip in the rice batter and deep fry. Bajje are best with, paneer, onions, potatoes, brinjals and cauliflower. Thanks again for your wonderful recipe. Regards, Mohan Kodange.
Hi
I love Phodi of all types not only me but my son and my little 2 yr old niece.. When I ask her what she wants me to cook when she comes over her ans is ” valan (varan) baat (bhat) Pholee (phodi…) Hehe…
Check out my site for some GOUD SARASWAT RECIPES..I am a GSB from Goa..
Yummy pan fried bananas..wish to have some.
Delicious – my mouth is watering just looking at them.
Thank you for the detailed information Mohan ji. Trust me any type of Podis do not get to the dinner table. The chef is the main culprit and the rest follow. In our house potato podis disappear fast and I usually make an extra batch. Mooga ghashi tendli talasani along with podis, that is unbeatable.
Hi Mahek so good to know about a fellow GSB. Valan and Pholee so cute 🙂
Thanks Priya and Apu.
We use this ripe banana but make it sweet. The ripe bananas are cut exactly like you have but use ghee to thava fry them. When roughly cooked, sprinkle sugar crystals and let the sugar caramalize a bit. Repeat on both sides. The sugar syrup in the ghee alongwith crunchy caramalized banannas with some vanilla ice cream, is heavenily
Delicious!