7 Cups Barfi (Type 2)

How about a race (not the rat kind please) to bring a smile on Lord Ganesha’s face?

Wel….come, come Gowris, Shivas and Subbus, join the race. Hey Subbus what are you waiting for? Oh yeah…I know. So sorry Subbus, this time no kadubus ‘coz Lord G has wished for His Selfie with Barfi….hee hee .

Ready, steady, 1.2..3…4….5…..6……go for this miniathon that’s sweetly different…just 7 laps long! Chase those cups… all same size, 7 of them. 1 of besan, 2 of sugar, 3 of ….. Oomph! Off you zoomed to the finish line in no time!! Tip yourself to a delicious dessert you duly deserve!

A dessert that tempts you to devour, yet sweet signals sent from its bits simply say “Taste me… just a bite and I shall see you savour me bits by bit by wee bit”. 7 ingredients coming together to submerge in a syrup prepared “with no strings (I mean consistencies) attached” and lo! watch those diamonds emerge flat on a plate, glittering. Oh my….I see you scaling up to seventh heaven already!  

Dish Type:  South Indian Dessert

Time:  10 min(preparation) + 30 min (cooking) + 60 min (cooling)

Yield:  16 pcs (approx.)

Ingredients – Option 1

Besan / Gram flour          1 cup

*Chiroti Rava                  1 cup (Semolina fine quality)

Sugar                              2 cups

Ghee                               1 cup

Milk                                1 cup

Raw Coconut                  1 cup (grated)

Cardamom                      2 pcs.

*Cashewnuts                   few nos. cut to fine pieces (for adding aroma) 

Directions

Keep all the ingredients ready in cups, all of same size.

Start by preparing sugar syrup. For this add sugar to milk and boil till sugar melts. Keep stirring frequently. Else milk can “break”. While this is boiling….

Dry fry chiroti rava in a kadai. Keep it aside. Fry besan along with ½ cup ghee. Make sure besan does not turn brown. When you smell the scent of the fried flour, add raw, fresh grated coconut, dry fried rava and continue frying for about 5 min. Add rest of the ghee left in the cup. Keep stirring for 5 more min. By now sugar syrup will be ready. Add this to the kadai and mix the contents well. Ensure no lumps are formed at any point of time. Continue stirring till ghee oozes out and starts flowing on the sides of the kadai. Keep mixing….oh can’t mix any more? Well, that’s a good sign to transfer contents from pan to plate! Before you do it, keep a clean, flat plate or tray ready. Grease it by smearing ghee uniformly all over including the sides.

Pour the contents in the kadai on to the greased plate. Spread the mixture evenly on the plate. Slowly and gently flatten and smoothen the top surface with a spatula. After a minute or two, using a sharp knife, mark lines to divide them. Mark either diagonally into diamonds or straight to from squares or rectangles. When it is warm, run the knife deep over the marked lines to slit them to pieces. Let it stand uncovered till it reaches room temperature (takes about an hour). Remove the pieces carefully and stack them on a plate. 7 cups barfi is now ready. Serve them rightaway.

Store them in an air tight container. Store in fridge if it is used next day or later.

Tete a tete

Chiroti rava (fine quality semolina) is optional. If you don’t use, then use2 cups of besan.

Wheat flour and/ or refined flour may also be used in addition to besan. In that case proportion will be ½ cup besan and ½ cup flour

While stirring, every time make sure spatula reaches right down to the bottom of the kadai and all round the sides for uniform frying.

Texture of the mixture is perfect when it appears smooth and shiny sans any bubbles.

Cashewnuts can be powdered and added towards the end while frying.

Cup of any size can be used. Make sure the same cup is used for measure. No. of pieces vary accordingly. I used cup size that holds 100 gms and treated my family to atleast 16 diamonds!

Shelf life if stored in fridge is around 5 days.

Also view:
Gulipaavate (Quick version)
Banana Fritters (Yeridevu / Suttevu)
Red Rice Laddoos
Mixed Veg Tikki
Bun Gulkand Sandwich

Recipes viewed here are a part of  "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog  

Gulpavate - Quick Version

On this auspicious occasion of Gowri – Ganesha festival, Mangala’s Potluck begins with the offering of a “Prasadam” recipe.

Come Mangala Gowri Vratha (every Tuesday of Shraavana Maasa), Amma would rush to the kitchen just before start of our puja and return in no time, with a plateful of brown balls moulded, cup shaped, space created in the centre to hold oil and bathi (wick) all set for Mangalaarathi.

On finishing the puja, she made sure to give this as “prasadam” to all. Hmmm, this was one bait, for sure, we never minded the wait!

Dish type: Traditional Sweet

Time required: 10 min

Yield: 12 nos.

Ingredients

Wheat flour              125 gms

Sooji Rava               100 gms (sooji rava/chiroti rava/semolina)

Jaggery                     225 gms

Raw coconut            125 gms (or 1/2 coconut medium size)

Ghee                        1 tbsp

Directions

Keep jaggery in a vessel with just enough water for it to dissolve.

Meanwhile, saute wheat flour and sooji rava in a dash of ghee, separately, in a pan till you get a pleasant smell – a sure sign that something delicious is on its way. Keep them aside. Into the same hot pan, put freshly grated raw coconut and saute for a short while. No need to switch on the stove. Heat in the pan is enough to warm coconut.

Boil jaggery water in a kadai till it melts completely. Sieve if required.

Transfer coconut from the pan into the kadai. Let it boil for a while.

Now add fried wheat flour and rava into the kadai. Mix them and saute till they blend well. Switch off the stove.

Add a tsp of ghee. Make round balls while still hot or warm enough for you to handle. Keep them on a plate. Let it cool.

Gulpavate prasadam is now ready.

Tete a Tete

Dry grated coconut may also be used in place of raw coconut

Gulpaavate recipe tried by Sri Nagesh Sidhanti

Cardamom and nutmeg may be added to get higher taste (Yes, I fully agree with you Sri Nagesh Sidhanti). Not included here in this "quick" version

Few types of jaggery: Palmyra jaggery, Date palm jaggery, sugarcane jaggery

Jaggery of any type is better for health than refined sugar
Gulipaavate can also be served as snack

The longer version of Gulpavate will be posted later.

Recipe contributor: My sweet big sis Shyla H Rao on behalf of our dear mother, Late Smt. Indira Jagannatha Rao (Kaveri)
Gulpavate is also known as Wheat Thambittu

Also view in this blog:
Red Rice Laddoos
7 Cups Barfi
Banana Fritters / Yeridevu
Bun Gulkand Sandwich

Recipes viewed here are a part of  "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog 

JALEBI

Chapaathi chup chup jalebi jhum jhum kene mosaranna uppinakaayi….doesn’t this ring a bell…of those tiny totty montessory musings? For a moment, let’s pause at the second item in the menu….hmmm…jhummmm isn’t it? Why waste time humming and rim jhimming.. when our mouths are already watering …Ready, get set, let’s Jjhumpstart to JALEBIing those spirally, syrupy frybees

Dish type: Traditional Sweet

Time required: 30 min

Yield: 10 to 12 nos.

Ingredients

For grinding:

Urad dal                   1 handful

For frying:

Pure ghee                 2 cups

For sugar syrup:

Sugar                        1 cup (for medium sweet taste)

Water                       1.5 cups

Rose essential oil       2 to 3 drops (can be added to syrup when syrup is ready)

Saffron pods             Few strands (approx. ¼ tsp)

Directions

Soak urad dal in water overnight. Drain out the water completely and grind it to a smooth batter (vada consistency) with absolutely no water. Water that’s still left out in urad is sufficient, because more the water, more the ghee that gets sucked in by jalebi.

Boil water in a vessel along with sugar and rosewater till syrup reaches sticky (and not string) consistency. Keep the flame low.

Method of frying: 

Heat small quantity of ghee (quantity just enough to fry 1 or 2 jalebis at a time) in a kadai on medium flame till hot, but not too hot (no fumes should emanate from ghee since it is carcinogenous) Make a small hole at the bottom of a 3” x 4” plastic cover. Transfer urad dal batter into this cover. Holding the filled cover, squeeze the batter slowly in circular pattern into the ghee. Getting decent shaped circles is difficult initially. For a start, it’s better to concentrate on taste and consistency. Fry till done.

Let urad batter fill the cover. You will be holding only at the top.

Dip this into the warm sugar syrup. Let it soak for a minute. Then turn over so that the other side is also soaked in the syrup. Let it soak for another 1 minute. Total soaking time must be about 2 to 3 min approx. This also depends on softness of jalebi after frying and thickness of syrup. More they are soaked, darker will be the colour. Avoid jalebis from breaking.  Remove them from the syrup. Transfer to a plate.

Jalebis are now ready.

Tete a Tete

Whole white urad dal tastes better than whole black urad dal.

While grinding soaked urad dal, add a tsp of curd or milk. This helps to get smooth consistency.

If the batter becomes thin, add a spoon or two of maida (all purpose flour)

If sugar syrup is of string consistency, then jalebis will not be soft.

No need to ferment the batter. Jalebis taste sour if batter is fermented. Choice is yours! Also fermenting the batter makes it thinner.

It is better not to keep the batter in fridge for your convenience of doing jalebis later.

Rosewater (1 tsp) can also be used instead of Rose essential oil.

Instead of using saffron pods you can also grind separately ¼ of a small size Beetroot (peeled and grated) and 2 nos. Carrot (medium size, peeled and grated), extract the juice and add to boiling sugar syrup.

Avoid reusing fried ghee.

Recipe contributor: My dear friend Ms. Sreeja M

Recipes viewed here are a part of  "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog