चिवडा/Chivda is a traditional snack item from Maharashtra made during Diwali. It is a spicy mixture of पोहा/flattened rice and peanuts, roasted chana dal etc. Easy to make with minimum ingredients, चिवडा needs a little preparation time and no cooking time at all. Ingredients 2 lb Thin Poha/Flattened Rice/पातळ पोहे 2 Cup Peanuts 1 Cup roasted Chana Dal 15 Green Chili's chopped 10-15 Curry leaves 5 Tbs Sugar 1 1/2 Tsp Chili powder 3 Tsp आमचुर/Dry Mango Powder Salt as per taste 3/4 Cup Canola Oil 1 Tbs Mustard Seeds 1/4 Tsp Asafoetida 1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder Method First step is roasting पोहे /Poha. There are several method for roasting. But I find roasting in oven more convenient and gives good results. Preheat the oven to 360 F. First you will need a चाळणी to separate whole poha from crushed poha which is in the powder form, discard the powder that separates from चाळणी. Then arrange poha on cookie sheets. You may need to do it in batches. I used 4 cookie she

Another sweet prepared for Diwali is करंजी/Karanji. It is a kind of fried dumpling stuffed with sweet coconut filling inside. There are two types of stuffing for करंजी, one is made with fresh grated coconut and another is made from shredded dry coconut. I personally like fresh grated coconut filling so let's get started with it. Ingredients Oil for deep frying For Stuffing 3 Cup shredded fresh coconut( I used frozen shredded coconut, if using frozen don't forget to thaw it first) 2 Cup Sugar 2 Tbs milk powder 1/2 Tsp Cardamom powder Pinch of saffron(optional) Dough for करंजी/Karanji 1 Cup मैदा/Maida 1 Cup रवा/Semolina 1/4 Cup oil 1 Cup milk(approximately) cold or at room temperature Method For stuffing combine shredded coconut and sugar in a large non-stick pan and cook the mixture on medium heat for 20 min, stirring occasionally in between. Towards the end of cooking process add milk powder and stir. You will know it's done when coconut

Rich and sweet dessert snack, Ladoo is not only made for Diwali but any time of the year. It is made by roasting gram flour in pure तुप/ghee/clarified butter which gives them rich taste. Than you can add nuts like almonds or raisins to make them extra special. Though, I don't add raisins as it is not a favorite item at my house. I always use लाडु बेसन/ladoo bean as I don't like the texture of ladoo's made from regular besan. Ingredients 3 Cup Ladoo Besan 1 Cup तुप 1/2 Cup milk 2 Cup powdered sugar 1/4 Cup chopped Almonds Method In a pot combine together तुप and besan. Fry it on low-medium heat. This will take time, as you don't want to burn the mixture. Fry it until you get nice light brown color, will take about 20-25 minutes(it seems a lot but you will need to fry them on medium heat all the way through, color and taste of ladoo depends on this important step). Add chopped almonds half way through cooking besan so that they get nice and toasted. On

Recipe for sweet shankarpale is pretty simple and has same procedure like खारे शंकरपाळे /khare shankarpale. As the name suggests these shankarpale are sweet but not too sweet like लाडु /ladoo. Today's sweet shankarpale recipe will make approximately around 3lb. Ingredients 1 Cup Sugar 1 Cup Milk 3/4 Cup oil 4 1/2 Cup मैदा/All Purpose Flour/Maida Oil for deep frying Method Combine sugar,milk, 3/4 cup oil and bring it to low boil. Once boiled shut off the gas. Leave it aside for few minutes. Next add मैदा/Maida little by little into the liquid to make a stiff dough. You will need only that much maida that will fit into the liquid and stiff dough is formed. 4 1/2 cup maida was required for the above mentioned liquid but it will depend on how heaping cups of maida you take. So just remember to keep adding maida until you get a nice stiff dough. Keep this dough covered aside for couple of hrs. Here are couple of photo's to give you the idea.  After all maida

Another Faraal item that I made today was खारे शंकरपाळे. शंकरपाळे/Shankarpale come in 2 varieties, sweet and savory. Both have same diamond shape and you will need a special spoon or कातण as we say in Marathi to give that shape. शंकरपाळे is an all time favorite with kids be it savory or sweet.  Ingredients 2 Cup मैदा/All Purpose Flour 1/8 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp जिरं/Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp मिरपुड/pepper Salt as per taste Water for kneading the dough(approximately little more than 1/2 cup) 4 tbs oil Oil for deep frying Method In a pan combine all the ingredients together except oil. Heat 4 tbs oil until smoking hot. Pour this hot oil in a pan with all the ingredients and mix. Now slowly add water little by little and knead it into a semi-soft dough. Keep it covered for 1/2 an hour.  Next divide the dough into equal balls. Roll out one ball into 7 to 8 inch thin circle. Now use that special spoon/कातण and cut horizo

'Diwali' popularly known as festival of lights outside India is the most awaited holiday for every Hindu. It is that time of the year where you shop for new clothes, clean and decorate the house with lights and lanterns. Whole house is filled with wonderful aroma of sweet and savory items known as फराळ/Faraal in Marathi  prepared for Diwali. There are five special days in Diwali, each having significance of it's own. 1.  धनत्रयोदशी 2. नर्कचतुर्दशी 3. लक्ष्मीपुजन 4. बलीप्रतिपदा 5. भाऊबीज I still remember Diwali celebrations from my childhood. Getting up early in the morning before sunrise, getting ready and then lighting up some fire crackers. After that we use to have फराळ made by mom. Those were some good old days. So on this auspicious holiday of Diwali I will be posting all the Faraal/फराळ items that I make.