Pan Fried Pathrado

Pathrado is a very popular konkani dish. Everyone from Coastal Karnataka knows about it. There are many ways of making it. Here I have posted my mother's recipe.

Pathra leaves are available in abundance in the coastal regions of Karnataka. Hence pathrado is prepared often and it is an all time favorite of many people. The picture below is of a pathra plant.

Last year I had posted a recipe for Pathrado. In that method Pathrado was made by steaming method. But this method involves pan frying which results in crispy pathrados. The steaming method yields softer pathrados. Pan frying method is little on the unhealthy side as lots of oil is required. But once in a while there is no harm in making them as they turn out amazingly tasty. My mother makes it once in a while and I absolutely love them.

Recently I went to New Jersy to visit my cousin and a visit to Indian store was in my list. To my surprise I found Pathra leaves and couldn't stop myself from buying it as pathrado is my husband's favorite. Hence thought of trying this method and the result was- my husband finished 4 pieces within 10 minutes. So Now I don't have to say How it tasted...right? I hope you all will love it too.

(Some of the photos are from my old post, as it was difficult to click pictures stepwise, all alone).

Ingredients:

• Rice- 3/4 cup
• Grated Coconut, Fresh/Frozen- 2 Tbsp
• Roasted red chilli- 6-7
• Tamarind- A Small ball (half of a lemon sized)
• Asafoetida- 1/4 tsp
• Salt- To taste
• Pathra leaves- 5 big leaves

For Seasoning:

• Oil- 3-4 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 3/4 tsp
• Urad dal/ Split black gram- 3/4 Tbsp
• Curry leaves- 4-5 (optional)

Procedure:

Wash the leaves and drain out the water completely. Soak the rice for 1-2 hours.

Now for the masala: Drain the water in which the rice is soaked and then grind the soaked rice along with grated coconut, roasted red chilli, tamarind and salt. Use minimum amount of water while grinding. The masala should be a thick, fine paste (and of spreadable consistency). Transfer it to a bowl and then add asafoetida and mix well. Masala is ready.

First important thing- Pat dry the pathra leaves with a clean cotton cloth.

Next- The prepared masala shouldn't be watery.

Assembling-  Take a big pathra leaf as the base and the lower part of the leaf should be facing you, as shown below.

Now give a coating of the prepared masala to this leaf as shown below.

Now place one more leaf on it as shown below.

Smear the masala on this leaf as done earlier.

Now repeat the above process for the remaining leaves (remember that the size of the leaves vary and hence try to distribute the leaves so that you get almost even thickness everywhere).

After everything it looks like this-

Now next comes the rolling part (have to be little more careful).

Fold the leaves on either sides as shown below.

Now slowly start rolling it from one end.

See that the leaves should be intact and try to roll it as tight as possible. Continue rolling till you reach the other end.

This is how it looks at the end.

Now slowly cut the roll into five equal pieces.

Next step is to fry them on a pan. Start heating a wide pan on medium heat. Add oil. Once hot, add the mustard seeds. Once it starts to splutter, add the urad dal and curry leaves. Reduce the heat immediately to medium- low. Once the urad dal changes its color slightly, start arranging the pieces of pathrado in the pan.

Now close it with a lid and let this cook on a low flame until the base turns golden brown and crispy (no water is added here and it has to be cooked strictly on a low flame to get crispy texture).

Once the bottom part turns golden brown and crispy, then flip it on the other side and close the lid to get the same texture. When done, the color of the leaf changes to a different shade of green. Turn off the heat. Pan Fried Pathrado is ready!!

Serve it hot as it is or as a side dish to rice and curry of your choice. Above measurement serves two people.