How hot it is these days! Looks like we will melt if we stand for a few minutes out in the son ?? What can we do about this heat ?? ,,,,,Lots !!!! 😃😃.. this is the time to make all those vodis & sun dried items and store them for the rainy season when we crave to eat something crunchy & munchy !
Almost all veggies and their peels – yes those that we discard – when sun dried & then deep fried – are so tasty that you will wonder why you had not known about this earlier ! So let us start with Pumpkin (Dhuddhi ) & Ash gourd (Kuvale ) peels .
We use pumpkin and ash gourd in so many amchi dishes .In those days when most of these veggies were home grown and cooking for large families – Imagine the amount of peels that it would create . But our wise ancestors – forever conserving their meagre resources – would sun dry them to use during the rainy seasons when veggie would be scarce unlike modern times .
So whenever possible collect the peels of pumpkin & ash gourd along with the inner fibre and seeds .Wash well , Apply salt and keep for a while . When the leave water – spread them out on a plastic sheet or clean cloth to dry under the sun .
After 3-4 days of drying (depending on the severity of the sun ),you can store it in air tight containers to be deep fried when the need arises .
In a similar way you can sun dry peels of potato too. I have already shown how to preserve peels of matured Chevli/ alsande here .
If you have a papaya tree at home or got a lot a raw Papayas – you can chop them finely like shown in the pic below . then wash well and drain the water . Apply salt & keep for a while . Then spread out to dry . When dried – store them and deep fry when needed . This tastes so yum that you will have kids too asking for more .
Same way when you get a lot of Bimbuls/ birmikarmbals /Tree sorrel , you can chop , salt and sun dry them for future use . Whenever you need to use it – just soak for about half an hour & then use just like fresh ones , the ones in the pic are an year old and still keeping good ! Star fruits / Karmbal/Carambola too can be dried & stored this way !
You can make an excellent snack of Tapioca skins too . when we remove the thick skin of tapioca …first separate the brown coloured skin from the thicker pinkish white skin . Clean and wash well , Cut in to small pieces , Then add salt and steam it in a steamer for some time , when cool spread out on a cloth , / plate or plastic sheet to dry out in the sun , Sun dry till completely dry . When cool store in air tight containers , As per need deep fry and enjoy them !
Hoping you will find these tips useful and will follow to enjoy some simple pleasurable eating !
Konkani Khann Anik Jevan 