Masala Puri

In this entire month, I posted only sweet recipes. Hence, I am posting the recipe of Khari Puri. It is not the part of traditional maharashtrian faraal, however, it is commonly made in Gujarati homes during diwali. It can be enjoyed during tea time also.

Khari puri is prepared by using maida as the main ingredient. However, I made it using wheat flour (Aata / Gavhachi Kanik), which is a healthier option than maida.



Ingredients
2 cups wheat flour
2 tbspns semolina
¼ cup oil (2-3 tbspns)
4 tspns sesame seeds (Til)
1 tspn red chilly powder
1 tspn turmeric powder
1 small lemon’s juice
4 tspns sugar
Water
Salt to taste
Oil to fry puris

Preparation :
Take ½ cup of water and sugar in a vessel and boil it.
Mix wheat flour, semolina, sesame seeds, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt in a bowl.
Add the boiled sugar water to the flour slowly and make a stiff dough.
Keep the dough aside for 30-45 minutes.
To make puris, take lemon size ball of dough and roll it.
After rolling puri, prick it with the tip of knife or fork.
Heat oil in a pan.
Deep fry the puris till the colour turns to golden brown.
Store it in an air-tight container.

Note :
1. In order to get uniformity in the size, you may roll out a large size roti and cut out small puris with the help of Katori (wati)
2. Multigrain aata can also be used instead of wheat flour.

Karanji (Olya naralachya karanjya)

Karanji is a also a traditional Maharashtrian sweet (faral item) made during the festive occasion of diwali. For non-maharashtrians you may call it fried dumplings stuffed with a sweet mixture of fresh coconut and sugar (i.e. olya naralachya karanjya) OR Khirapat.. Karanji is also known as Gujiya. Karanjis can be stored for weeks. Some people add semolina or khava also in the filling. However, the recipe given here is the traditional recipe.

My aaji say that along with the karanji you should also make a fried modak (by using the same dough and saran) as a brother of karanji.

Ingredients :
For cover
2 cup maida,
½ cup pure ghee
½ cup milk
water
Oil for frying

For Saaran
1 whole fresh coconut (grated) (Approx. 3 to 3 ½ waatya)
1 ½ to 2 cup sugar
1 tsp cardamom powder

Preparation
Saaran
Take grated coconut &  sugar in a pan.
Cook it on a low flame till the sugar is melted
Do not make it too dry. Cook only for 5 minutes.
Keep it aside for cooling.
Add cardamom powder at the end

Cover
Take maida in a bowl.
Heat ½ cup ghee in kadai and pour it over the maida.(This is called as “Mohan” in marathi)
Add milk and knead the dough
If required, use small quantity of water to knead the dough
Set it aside for ½ an hour
Knead it again to make the dough soft.

Karanji
Take a small ball of dough
Roll it into a puri sized circle
Place a spoon of the filling in the center
Fold the circle in a half-moon shape.
Apply a little water or milk on the edges and seal it.
Now remove the excess sides with the help of knife or cutter (katan)
Cover with a moist cloth.

Repeat the abovementioned procedure for balance karanjis

Deep fry on medium heat till it turns golden brown.

Note : You may add dry-fruits of your choice to enhance the taste.

Besan Ladu

On this festive occasion of diwali, I am posting the recipe of Besan ladoo



Ingredients:
4 cups besan
2 to 2 ½ cups pure ghee
3 cups sugar power (Pithi sakhar)
1/4 cup milk
1 tspn cardamom power
Raisins and cashews for garnishing

Preparation :
Mix besan and pure ghee in a vessel
Heat it over low flame
Roast it for at least 45 min to 1 hour till you get aroma in some other room.
After roasting, add milk to the mixture
Stir the mixture and put off the flame
Allow the mixture to cool for 2-3 hours
Add cardamom powder to the mixture
Lastly, add sugar powder to the mixture
Make small balls of the mixture
Affix cashew and raisin to it.

Shankarpale

First of all let me wish you a very happy diwali and a prosperous new year. Since I was busy in office, I could not post recipes for last few days. On the festive occasion of diwali, I am posting today the recipe of shankarpale.


Shankarpale is a popular snack in Maharashtra. It is also a traditional snack which is made during festive occasion of diwali. There are two type of recipes, sweet as well as salty. It has a high shelf life can be stored for days also.



Ingredients :
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup pure ghee
3-4 cups maida (as required)
½ cup semolina (rawa)
Salt to taste.

Preparation :
Take milk in a pan and boil it.
Add the sugar and ghee to the milk
Heat the mixture further for 10-15 minutes
Add semolina to the mixture and stir it
Now add that much quantity of maida which can be absorbed into the mixture
Knead the dough
Keep it aside for 1 hour

To make Shankarpale
Take small quantity of batter and make a ball of it.
Roll it as we make poli
Cut the poli into diamond shapes with cutter
Fry it in ghee till it turns brown.
Drain the excess ghee by placing it on tissue paper after frying

Balushahi

This recipe is taught by my aunt Neelima. I tried making balu shahi for the first time during last diwali and surprisingly, it was a big hit. The ingredients used for Balu shahi are few and the method is also very simple



Ingredients:
4 cups Maida (All purpose flour)
2 cups ghee + ghee to fry balushahi
2 cups curd
½ tspoon soda
½ tspoon cardamom powder
A pinch of salt
Chopped pista

Syrup:
3 cups sugar
1½ cup water

Preparation:
Add soda, salt and cardamom powder to maida and sieve it together.
Heat 2 cups ghee in a pan and pour it on maida
Knead the mixture by adding curd and make a stiff dough
Keep aside the dough for 30-45 minutes

Now take sugar and water in a pan
Boil it on medium heat to a multiple strings consistency
Keep the syrup warm

Make small round balls (pedha size)
Flatten them slightly and press each with the thumb at the center
Heat ghee in a Kadai
Fry the balu shahi on low flame till they are golden brown
Turn the balls gently and fry on the other side

Soak the balls in the warm syrup for few minutes
Remove balls from the syrup and place them in a plate
Sprinkle finely chopped pistachios on it

Note :
If sugar syrup is left over, heat it further and pour it on balushahi, to get extra sweet balushahi.

Milk & Curd Vadi (Dahi-dudhachya vadya)

In maharashtrian cuisine, you will find different type of vadis like Amba vadi, shrikhanda vadi, dudhi vadi, gajar vadi etc. ‘Vadi’ is a type of sweet which you may preserve for days and can have anytime when feel like having some sweet.

I don’t remember but I have tasted this curd and milk vadi somewhere. It tastes similar to shrikhand vadi, but has its own unique taste. I tried this recipe last Sunday when I had no other work to do.





Ingredients :
1 cup milk
1 cup curd
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp cardamom powder (Velchi pud)
1 tspn Charoli
Ghee for greasing the plate

Preparation :
Pour milk, curd and sugar in a non-stick pan.
Heat the mixture
Stir the mixture continuously till it gets thick consistency
Put a small drop on a plate and check whether it forms “Goli” (Similar to goli band paak)
Turn off the flame
Add cardamom powder to the mixture.
Grease thali with ghee
Pour the mixture into the plate
Flaten the mixture with spoon
Sprinkle chironji (charoli) over it
After cooling, cut it into small pieces