KOCHI: Another Diwali is around the corner. It’s a special time of the year that brings people closer. Though the festival is all about happiness, lights, colourful rangoli and bringing positivity, it is incomplete without food.
As the festival of lights approaches, the aroma of mithai, ghee, and spice fills up one’s house. This year, why not don the chef’s hat and liven up the festive spirit by making some delectable snacks and sweet treats that can be paired with a simple meal or a regal feast. TNIE lists some of the best recipes that would help one kickstart the Diwali sweet and savoury journey.
Atte Ka Halwa by Dassana Amit
Ingredients
Atta (whole wheat flour): 1 cup
Ghee (clarified butter): ½ cup
Sugar or Jaggery powder: 1 cup
Water: 2 cups
Whole cashews or almonds of your choice: 1 tbsp
Method of preparation
Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed kadai or pan. Add whole wheat flour to the hot ghee and start roasting it. Meanwhile, put sugar and water in another pan. Keep it on medium to high flame and let the solution come to a boil. Fry the atta by stirring continuously till its colour changes. Keep stirring the flour to ensure even browning. When the sugar solution mixture starts to boil, lower the flame and let it simmer. Increase the flame to high for the sugar solution to bubble. Once it does, pour it into the hot atta mixture. Continue to stir to ensure no lumps are formed. Atte ka halwa will absorb water and continue to thicken quickly. When wheat halwa is semi-thick or thick like a sooji halwa, switch off the flame. Serve atte ka halwa hot or warm.
Ghugara by Sushma Lalith Lodaya
Ingredients for stuffing
Ghee: 5 tbsp
Cashew: 2 tbsp
Almond: 2 tbsp
Pistachio: 2 tbsp
Fine Rava: ½ cup
Coconut: ½ desiccated
Sugar: ½ cup
Cardamom powder: ½ tsp
For outer layer
Maida All-Purpose Flour: 2 Cups
Pinch of salt
Melted ghee clarified butter: 4 Tbsp
Water: ½ cup
Oil for deep frying
For outer layer
In a bowl mix maida, a pinch of salt, and melted ghee. Add water gradually and knead a tight and smooth dough. Cover it and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
Preparing ghugara
Knead the dough for about 1 minute. Cut small portions and roll them into puri-like shapes. Using a small lid, cut it into a round shape. Place about 1tsp of stuffing in the middle. Now with some water, line the edges of the puri and cover the mixture by joining one side with the other. Now take the ghugara in your hand and lightly press the edges between your fingers & make pleats to give the ghugara design. You can also make designs on ghugara using a fork. Once the oil is hot, reduce the flame to low and fry 9-10 ghugara till they turn golden brown.
Making the Stuffing
Roast dry fruits in ghee. When cool, crush them and add to the mixing bowl. Then in the same pan, add sooji and cook for about 5-6 min on low heat. Add roasted sooji into the mixing bowl.
Roast desiccated coconut for a minute. Add into a mixing bowl, then mix sugar and cardamom powder to it.
Papdi by Anitha, homemaker
Ingredients
Refined wheat flour: 1 cup
Wheat flour: 1 cup
Gram flour: 1 cup
Oil: 2 tbsp
Carom seeds: 1 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1.5 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Method
Mix the ingredients and knead well. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes. Now, cut the dough into small parts and flatten them with a rolling pin. Deep fry in hot oil. Store in an air-tight container.
Dry Fruit Varo by Varsha Panjabi, food connoisseur
Ingredients
Mixed nuts almonds, cashews,
pistachio: 3/4 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Ghee: 1 tsp
Cardamom powder: a pinch
Poppy seeds: 1 tbsp
Method
Dry roast the nuts in a heavy bottom pan for two minutes. Keep it aside. In a heavy bottom pan, add ghee and poppy seeds, and let it cook. Add sugar to the mix, and let it cook on low flame. Keep stirring on a medium flame till sugar gets caramelised. Add cardamom powder to it along with nuts and turn off the heat. Pour the mixture on a greased plate/baking sheet or a chapati maker and roll with a rolling pin to even it. While it is still warm, cut into desired-size incisions and let it cool. Break into pieces once it cools off or serve it as discs. Store brittle in a tight container.
Sondhesh by Aarti Das
Ingredients
Whole milk: 1 litre
Lemon juice or vinegar: 1 to 1.5 tablespoons (or add as required)
Palm jaggery: 2 tablespoons (or 2 tablespoons sugar)
Sugar: 3 tablespoons (or as required) 4 to 5 pistachios or 4 to 5 almonds, sliced or 10 to 12 golden raisins
Making Chhena
Keep the milk to boil. Line a deep bowl or pan with a muslin or thin cotton napkin. When the milk begins to boil, lower the heat. Add lemon juice and stir. Switch off the flame when the milk curdles. Pour the entire content into the lined muslin. Take the four corners of the muslin in your hands and join together. The chhena or paneer would get formed in the muslin. So gather all the curdled paneer together in the muslin and squeeze the whey. Rinse the content in the muslin in running water very lightly to remove the sourness of the lemon juice or vinegar from. Place a weight like a stone bowl or a stone pestle on the muslin for 25 to 30 minutes.
Making Sondhesh
Take the chhena on a plate or a tray. Knead it till the mixture becomes smooth and less granular. Add jaggery and sugar and knead for 2 to 3 minutes again. Instead of kneading, you can also blend this mixture in a small blender or mixer-grinder. The jaggery and sugar will melt and release moisture in the mixture. Add this mixture to a thick-bottomed nonstick pan. With continuous stirring, cook on low heat for a total time of 8 to 9 minutes. First, the sondhesh mixture will have a smooth and molten consistency. Slowly the moisture would begin to dry up and the sondhesh mixture would start coming together. (Remember the sondhesh mixture should be moist and not dry. Also, no oil or fat should be released from the mixture). Let the sondhesh mixture cool and knead it to get a smooth consistency. Shape into round flattened balls or a peda. With a toothpick or fork, you can even make designs on the sondhesh. Press some pistachio or almond slices or raisins in the centre. Serve the sondhesh immediately or refrigerate and then serve.
Thollatlo by Vanisri Deena Bandhu, IT professional
Ingredients
Rice flour: 50 g
Jeera water: 150 ml
Sugar: 5-6 tbsp
Method
Prepare jeera water by boiling cumin seeds (jeera) in water. After boiling the water add sugar to it. Mix until the water boils to the consistency of a sugar syrup. Pour the rice flour into the liquid. Mix well and add water to adjust the consistency. Make round balls of the mixture and serve.
Compiled by Aishwarya Prabhakaran, Archita Raghu and Sonu M Kothari