Gabbya Vodis /banana stem sun dried fritters

• Fresh piece of gabbo/ banana stem – 250gms
• Udid dal – 1 cup
• Hing  – 1/4 tsp
• Red Chillies – 8 to 9 ( as per your spice level ) You can also use green chillies instead .
• Salt to taste

Method :- 

1. Choose a fresh piece of gabbo .and remove the sheaths till you get a firm piece .                     
2.  First cut roundels and remove the fibres with your finger as shown in the video link below –
3. Chop the gabbo finely, add salt , mix well and keep aside in a sieved bowl or tied in a cloth .This should be done in the evening and left overnight so that by morning you can squeeze out all the water that it has let out .  Do not skip this step as otherwise the vodi  batter will become very watery – gabbo has  high water content !                             
4.  Soak udid dal for 2-3 hours .  Wash and add the dal and chillies in a mixer , grind till smooth and fluffy like you grind for idli batter . add as much less water as possible . Refrigerate  till you are ready to use it .
5. In the morning add the water drained gabbo and hing to the batter- mix well , you may also give a quick coarse grind to the water drained gabbo .                                         
6. Mix thoroughly and spoon out into small blobs on to a sheet or cloth spread out under the sun.          
7. When  the vodis have dried enough to be removed easily . spread them out on a plate  to dry completely .
8. When the vodis have dried completely . let cool and then store in air tight containers . take out some when you crave for them and enjoy them deep fried as a snack for teatime or as side dish for lunch. it’s tastes great with just pejj /gruel too !

1. The udid batter should be fluffy just like idli batter.Grind with as little water as possible
2. Mix the batter and the gabbo only when you are ready to spoon it out immediately . as otherwise the batter will turn watery.
3. If you are spreading out on a thali – make sure it is greased – as otherwise you will have trouble removing the vodis . When greased – the vodis will come off easily .
4. When using a cloth to spread – sprinkle some water on the vodis to loosen them off , Then keep out in the sun again to dry out well.
5. Let the vodis cool from the hot sun  before storing them .
6. If you feel batter is a little too thin – you may add about 1 tbsp. of rice powder or better still one or two tbsp. of urid dal flour . This will thicken the batter to desired consistency.
7. As an improvisation – I tried grinding freshly cut gabbo along with the urid dal to avoid the need of adding water for grinding . The batter was much thicker than usual . Note that I had ground the urad dal to fluffy stage adding salt . The resulting vodis were quite crisp . Only that you have to spread out the vodis immediately out in the sun to dry .