Happy Diwali to All Of You

 

 

Diwali, the festival of lights has started. Wow!! Dussehra and then Diwali; Navaratri, Golu, Community gatherings – all these have filled the month of October with lots of fun and family events. This year has passed so quickly. I just love this festival of lights. I feel so fresh. Don’t know if it is the weather or the festival feel…:) Whatever it may be, wishings you a very Happy Diwali on behalf of me and my family.

Like every year, I have made all the traditional Maharashtrian snacks/sweets. But this time, I have tried few new sweets. New not in terms of taste or variety but I made them for the first time like Kaju Katli, Milk Cake, Baked Gujia instead of Fried Gujia.

We offer all these sweets/snacks to God on Narak Chaturdashi day (2nd day of Diwali). Yesterday, I finished up my preparations by making the last item. So, here is a list of things (some similar to last year and some new):  Chivda, Besan Ladoo, Namakpare, Shakkarpare, Kaju Katli, Milk Cake, Baked Gujia.

 

Chivda :  This is my favorite. Honestly speaking, I do not need any occasion for making Chivda. It’s a wonderful Low Fat snack option, long shelf life and less calories. This time I used Nylon Poha (Poha is the flattened rice, that is available in all Indian grocery stores or the Asian section of regular grocery stores) for making the Chivda.  The only caution while making this is don’t over mix the chivda as the Nylon Poha is thin. Over mixing can break the poha. You can find the recipe here

 

 

Besan Ladoo: This is my family’s favorite. Especially, my daughter’s all time favorite sweet. You can find the recipe here.

 

 

Namakpare: I made Namakpare with a taste of Methi in it.  For that, I used crushed Kasoori Methi.

 

 

For making these Methi Pare you will need:

• 2 Cups – Maida (All purpose flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon – Ajwain ( Carom seeds) – crush it between your palms
• 2 tablespoons – Kasoori Methi – crush it between your palms
• Salt –  To taste
• Oil – To fry

 

Method:

• Mix Maida, Carom seeds, Salt, Kasoori Methi. Mix it. Add few spoons of Oil while mixing. Let the oil coat the dry mixture evenly. Take some mixture into your hand and press it with fingers making a fist. If it doesn’t falls apart then that’s the point when you do not have to add more oil.  Then add water and knead into a firm dough. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Divide the dough into balls, roll one ball at a time. Roll it thin. Cut it into strips and then diamonds. Fry it until golden brown.

 

Shakkarpare/Shankarpale: In Maharashtra, we call it Shankarpale. Last year I made Baked Shakkarpare. This year I made Fried. This is my Grand Ma’s recipe. They are not too sweet. You can either do half maida half whole wheat flour or  full whole wheat flour. I did half-half.

 

 

This is what you will need:

• 1 Cup – Sugar
• 1 Cup – Clarified Butter or Ghee
• 1 Cup – Water
• 2 1/2 Cups –  All purpose flour / Maida
• 1 ½ Cups – Whole Wheat Flour / Aata
• Cardamom Powder – 1 teaspoon
• Oil- To fry

 

Method:

• Mix Sugar, Ghee, Water. Bring it to a boil. Let the sugar get dissolved completely. Let it cool down.
• Mix Maida & Wheat Flour. Pour the liquid mixture into it. Add Cardamom powder. Knead it into medium soft dough. Cover it for 15-20 minutes. Now, divide the dough into balls. Roll one ball at a time to medium thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Fry until golden brown.

 

That’s it for this post.  For an easy Kaju Katli,  Milk Cake & Baked Gujia/Baked Karanji recipe check out next post.

Enjoy!!