Waking up Devansh at 7:30 in the morning for his school is a huge struggle. Luckily I don’t have to send tiffin with him as they serve food at the nursery he goes to. But if I had to give him tiffin, I am sure I’d be packing phodnichi poli in his lunch box pretty often. It’s one of the few homemade dry foods Devansh likes. If we’re going out someplace and I need to carry his snack, phodnichi poli is one of my top preferences. I don’t add veggies or pomegranate at that time of course. This prevents it from getting spoiled for a long time.
Phodnichi poli is a common Maharashtrian dish that’s usually made with leftover roti. I used to make it for us in the morning to be had with chai using previous day’s leftover roti. Devansh happened to taste it once and he liked it. After that I’ve started making it for him as an evening snack using fresh roti. I make it pretty frequently, at least twice a week.
Now typically veggies are not used in phodnichi poli but I decided to try adding carrots, green peas, and pomegranate this time. It would be a good way to include grains, veggies, and a fruit in one meal. I couldn’t manage to get green peas so I went ahead with just carrots and pomegranate. The result was yummy even if I say so myself. Kalpesh and I polished it off while Devansh was sleeping. I felt guilty about it when after waking up Devansh asked for phodnichi poli. The reason I didn’t keep some for him was the pomegranate seeds. He used to have it earlier but these days he puts the seeds in his mouth and then starts taking them out one by one saying “Here take the seed”. :-| I hope he outgrows this phase soon. Anyways he liked the gobi parathas my cook had made so my guilt of not setting aside some phodnichi poli for him didn’t last long. Devansh, Kalpesh, and I love tadke wali roti; I hope your kiddo and you like it as well.

Tadke Wali Roti with a Fruit and Veggie Twist (Phodnichi Poli)
Ingredients
- 3-4 rotis
- 2 tbsp julienned carrots carrots cut into thin strips
- 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
- 1/3 rd tsp cumin seeds jeera
- 1/4 th tsp asafoetida hing
- 1/4 th tsp turmeric powder haldi
- Pinch of red chili powder
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 1 tsp chopped coriander
- 1/2 tsp organic sugar optional
- 1-2 tsp oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Break rotis into small pieces. (Some people prefer to crumble it really fine.
- But I prefer to make bite-sized pieces of roti so Devansh can eat it by himself. Even for me, I prefer the pieces.)
- Heat a kadai and then add oil.
- Add cumin seeds, and when they sputter, add curry leaves, hing and haldi.
- Add carrots. (You can add peas as well. Veggies are optional though, you can make phodnichi poli without them. Some people add onions but I don’t like them in my phodnichi poli.)
- Add red chili powder, sugar, and salt.
- Saute the vegetables for 3-4 minutes, and then add roti pieces.
- Mix the roti pieces properly with the vegetables and keep stirring till the pieces turn yellowish in color. (This should take another 3-4 minutes. You can stir for some more time on medium-high flame if you want to make the pieces crispy.)
- Add chopped coriander, stir for 1-2 minutes and then turn off heat.
- Add pomegranate seeds and mix well.
- Serve hot or at room temperature. (This is one of the few dishes that tastes good even at room temperature.)