Kantola/ Teasel Gourd Fry (Phagla Fry/Phodi)

Just like modern baked, stir fried veggies, Konkani's too have been eating vegetables by shallow frying them from ages. Kantola, bitter gourd are vegetables that taste absolutely yummy when they are salted and are shallow fried with oil. All you need to do is slice them up, add some salt, let them rest for 20 minutes. By then the kantola/bitter gourd slices would have taken up salt. Then fry them with some oil on a frying pan. They taste delicious!

Shallow frying keeps the taste, nutrients from the vegetables intact and makes a simple, easy to prepare side dish for lunch, dinner. With no prep you can prepare them in minutes. 

We Konkanis also prepare spicy, tasty, pan fried kantola using spiced up semolina (rava fry) or deep fry them with rice batter to make yummy, crispy fritters. 

Ingredients:

3-4 kantola/teasel gourds
3 tablespoons of oil
Salt to taste

Serves: 3

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Preparation Method:

1. Wash the teasel gourds, chop off the stem and the bottom portion of the gourd.

2. Slice them into thin or thick slices, depending on how you like them. Thin slices taste great though.

2. Add some salt to the slices, toss them well and allow them to rest for atleast 15-20 minutes.

3. The more time you give them to rest, the more salt they take up.

4. Heat up a frying pan and arrange the slices on the tava, side by side.

5. Drizzle oil on the slices and cook closed for few minutes on medium flame.

6. Flip over all the slices, add oil on top, close them with a lid and fry them again for few minutes on medium flame until they are cooked through.

7. Serve hot as a starter or as a side dish for lunch, dinner.

Find more fritter (bajo, phodi) recipes here.

Tags: Phagil, phagla, kantola, teasel gourds, Konkani side dish, lunch, dinner, Konkani recipe, Konkani dish, Konkani cuisine, Udupi cuisine, Mangalore food, Konkani food, Indian gourds, Ganesh chaturthi, phagla phodi, bachelor recipe