Konkani Dishes - Part 2

Welcome to the final article of the Konkani saga, and the second part of Konkani foods. The dishes in the previous articles are main course curries and are usually served at temples. This article is about famous Konkani snacks and side dishes.

While some of these are made on any casual day, few of them are made only on special occasions. We do not have any particular ingredient that we use in every dish (like most north Indians think that coconut is a must in South Indian dishes). We use coconut only when it’s needed. It has a particular taste and essence that enhances the taste of the dish.

Here are my most favourite Konkani snacks and side dishes.

1. Pathrode

This dish is made with colocasia leaves (patrode paan) and spiced batter. The batter is made with coconut, moong dal/ tomorrow dal,jaggery (optional), red chillies, spices, tamarind,etc. This batter is spread all over the leaf. The leaf is rolled and then cut into small rolls. These rolls are either steamed or roasted.

Colocasia leaves tend to make throats itchy and that’s the reason kids don’t enjoy this dish much, but if the batter is spread properly, the itchiness vanishes. Pathrode is served either as a side dish or a perfect snack. It can be made in many variations. My mom steams it and later roasts it with idly rava which gives it a crunchy taste.

2. Karkala Cake

In my earlier article, I had written about this place called Karkala, this dish belongs to that town. It’s a halwa made with wheat flour, although no one knows why it’s called Cake. It’s a sweet dish made with wheat flour, sugar and lots of ghee. Any doubt why I love this dish so much?

Although there are not much ingredients, it’s preparation is tedious. It consists of only four ingredients – wheat flour, ghee, sugar and hot water. The difficulty is in stirring the mixture till it becomes a paste. The dish is not too sweet , so it’s also liked by people who do not have much of a sweet tooth. The dish is then garnished with dry fruits.

3. Biscuit Roti

This all time favourite Mangalorean snack is a best match for hot tea. This sweet – spicy tasting dish is basically puri stuffed with spices and sugar. It is crunchy and flavourful and can be stored for two to three days.

The stuffing includes semolina, mustard, curry leaves, spices and sugar. After the dough is made, the stuffing is added to the dough making a pocket and this pocket is then made into rotis using the rolling pin. These rotis are deep fried and biscuit Roti is ready!

4. Patholi.

This is a sweet coconut filled rice dumpling. Patholi is made in turmeric leaves, thus is made only during monsoons. Especially only on special occasions like Gauri Pooja, Chavti (Ganesh Chaturthi) and Nagarpanchami.

Rice is ground into a thick batter and this batter is spread on the leaf, on this the jaggery and coconut filling is added. The leaf is then folded and steamed. After it’s ready, the fragrance of turmeric leaves and jaggery fill the house, which makes it more mouth watering. The dumpling is then removed from the leaf and is eaten with hot ghee. Damn, my mouth is watering!