Piyava Vodi (Sun dried- Rice based Onion Fritters)

Piyava Vodi is a very popular sun dried item. In konkani, piyavu means onion and vodi is nothing but a sun dried rice based item, which are then deep fried. These are generally made in the month February to May (Summer time). In kannada, it is called Sandige.

I grew eating these vodis. My mother used to make huge batches of it and then store it, for year long uses. She also distributed it to our relatives. I remember helping my mother with the process. These vodis taste awesome, once deep fried. It is very addictive. Now she has stopped doing it for many reasons. I miss mom made vodis!

But god is not that cruel towards me. Why so? Its because my MIL makes it affectionately for us every year. Am I not lucky?:-) Stories apart, the first thing we did after I reached home (back in India) was vodi (so that I can click the photos for my blog).  She helped a lot with many recipes. I am thankful to her:-)

Nowadays only few people make these vodis. Its because many are working or because they don't have enough space for drying or they are lazy. Give this a try and I am sure the effort is worth!

Ingredients:

• Dry Red Chilli- 15-20
• Rice- 2 1/2 cups
• Water- 2 1/2 liters
• Onion, chopped*- 1/2 kg
• Salt- To taste 

 *You can also substitute Garlic for onion. If you want to use garlic then add 4-5 big bulbs of garlic. The garlic has to be peeled and crushed lightly.

For Drying: You will require big sheets of plastic and flattened boxes, to support the plastic.

 

Procedure:

Soak the rice for 1-2 hours. Then drain the water and grind the soaked rice along with dry red chilli and salt, to get a smooth paste (add little water while grinding). Transfer this paste to a very big container, as there will be an increase in volume of the batter once it is cooked.

Now add the 2 1/2 liters of water to the rice paste and check for the salt (salt checking has to be done at this stage itself). The final batter before cooking looks like this-

 

Now start heating it on a high flame, with constant stirring. Once it comes to a boil, the watery paste slowly starts to thicken up. It looks like this-

Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat to minimum and allow it to cook for 10 minutes, with constant stirring (it has to be stirred continuously, to avoid burning). After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. The batter is ready.

Now add finely chopped onion to the prepared batter.

Mix it well. Let the batter sit overnight. The drying process starts next day early morning. 

Next morning spread the plastic sheet on flattened boxes and clean it with a towel (you can as well grease the plastic sheet with a mixture of water and oil). Once everything is set, start spreading a spoonful of batter on the sheet as shown below (mix the batter before spreading)-

Repeat the process until the batter gets over. A view after everything was done-

A close up view of the same-

Let this dry in the hot sun for five consecutive days. After a day in sun, the vodi looks like this-

A close up view of the same-

After 2-3 days, the vodi shrinks and later can be removed from the plastic and then dried together for two more days. Piyava Vodi is ready!!

Store it in air tight container. Whenever wanted, deep fry in oil and eat it as it is or serve it along with rice. Enjoy it throughout the year.

My MIL makes one more variety of  vodi. It is called Tarni Mirsange Vodi. In konkani, tarni mirsang means green chilli. The procedure of making it is same as given above. The changes to be made are- the amount of rice, water and salt remains the same (omit red chilli and onion). Other things to be added are:

-Green Chilli- 10-15

-Cumin seeds/Jeera- 3-5 Tbsp

 Make a coarse paste of green chilli and then add it to the rice paste along with cumin seeds.

After drying, the vodi looks like this-

These white vodis are not common and taste equally good.