#ghughra

Tuver Lilva na Ghughra |Kachoris – Of Pigeon Peas and winters at home!

Where I come from, the Southern Part of Gujarat, Winters definitely mean a bounty of bounty of fresh vegetables. And while there are a lot of vegetables at their prime in winters, one of the most celebrated ones in Southern Gujarat is Tuver | Pigeon Peas | Tender beans from which Arhar ki Daal is made on de-husking and drying. The way Northern India celebrated Peas with Nimona and a zillion other…

Ghughra Chronicles

Come Diwali and there’s a galore of sweets and snacks and all things unhealthy. But then again, who cares about unhealthy and oily food? It’s DIWALI!! :D

For me, this was a special one because I had gone home, after three weeks of intense work in Delhi, to be with my family. Everyone, including my colleagues in Delhi were excited about it (Colleagues, obviously were more excited about eating Gujarati snacks and sweets that I was going to get back, from home).

Being a Gujju; a person who loves almost all sorts of sweets, I have always loved making this one mithai that was taught to me by my grandmother. I would say, my design aesthetics were influenced a lot by this one mithai that we would make every Diwali.

Yes, it’s the “Ghughra” or “Gujiya” (as they call it in the northern parts of India). Gujjus devour Ghughra during Diwali and every household has a their own version of this classic mithai. This time, when I was helping my mother make them, I remembered how my grandmother would teach my cousin and I, to get the design right. That’s when my mother said, “You always imbibe things easily when you’re young”. I am lucky, I was taught this art when I was young. :)

Here’s how my mom made them at home –

Ingredients Khoya – 500 gms Sugar – 250 gms Cardamom powder – ½ tsp Nutmeg powder – ½ tsp Grated almonds, pistachios, cashews - 2 tbsp Maida – 1 cup Water – to knead the dough Ghee – 1 tsp (for the dough) Vegetable Oil – for frying

Method In a thick bottomed pan, crumble and stir the Khoya till it gets a little brown (you will get a typical smell when it gets cooked). Ensure to continuously keep stirring it, in order to avoid it getting burnt. Then add the sugar, cardamom & nutmeg powder and mix well. Sprinkle grated dried fruits over it and mix it. Let it cool.

In a separate vessel, take maida, add ghee to it and mix it. Now, keep adding water to this, as required, to knead it into a soft dough. Keep it aside for a while.

Make small, bite sized rolls from the dough and start rolling them into pooris of almost 5” diameter. Place the poori flat on your palm and then take a spoonful of the khoya mixture and spread it in the middle of that poori. With your other hand, grab the two sides of this poori to let the stuffing in and pinch it so that the edges stick to each other. Seal the entire poori, similarly, while holding the Ghughra delicately in your hand. Once you have sealed it entirely, hold it diagonally, so that one edge faces you. Now, starting from the corner, pull the sealed edge gently and then fold it ahead. Keep repeating it, till you reach the other side of the Ghugra. The trick here, is to rotate the Ghughra, during this process, so that the pattern almost resembles a twisted rope. Prepare all these stuffed delicacies similarly and make sure to cover them so they don’t dry because if they turn dry, there’s a chance of it falling apart while frying.

Heat up the vegetable oil to medium high temperature and starting frying them, slowly, till they turn a little pink in colour.

Serve them hot or at room temperature.