Goodies for Ganpati on Ganesh Chaturthi - Part 1

I celebrated my first Chavati after marriage yesterday. It was a huge success. And at the cost of having this post sound like a vote of thanks, I still have to thank those without whom this would not have been possible. Ganpati for standing by me and making this possible. Amma, who kept guiding me each step of the way. Sachin who helped when I made everything. Latha and Lakshmi of The Yum Blog for patiently explaining what might have gone wrong and what corrective action I need to take for the kozhukattais. Laavanya for her Ammini Kozhukattai recipe. And Rasachandrika, the amchi cookbook, for guiding a novice.

For this Ganesh Chaturthi, I made Modak, Chakli, Somashe (Karanji/Nevryo), Madgane (Bengal Gram Kheer), Uppu Kozhukattai and Ammini Kozhukattai. I didn't think I'd have the patience for any of this. Normally, I'd have made some one or two items and left it at that. But I'm glad I tried.

Today's post will carry 2 of those items: Chakli & Somashe

Chakli:

3 cups Rice Flour

3/4 cup Roasted Urad flour

1/2 cup Butter

1 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Mix the flours and the salt. Rub in the butter and the sesame seeds. The mixture should come together in your hands. Add water to make a pliable dough. The dough should not be watery, yet moist.




Put some dough into a chakli press and make 4-5 small spirals on to a cloth. Heat the oil in a kadhai. Fry the chaklis in the hot oil till they turn brown. Drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the dough.






Somashe and Modaks:





For the outer covering:

2 cups Maida
2 tbsp Hot Ghee (Clarified Butter)


For the filling:


1 1/8 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
3/4 cup Coconut, scraped
1/2 cup Cream of Wheat (Rava/Sooji)
1/4 cup Cashews
1 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Oil for frying


Knead the dough by mixing the maida and the ghee with enough water. The dough must be elastic. Make small balls of the dough and keep aside.





Roast the coconut, cream of wheat and sesame seeds individually and keep aside.


Make a sugar syrup of 1 thread consistency with the sugar and water. Add the coconut, sesame and cream of wheat along with the cashews and cardamom powder. Mix well and allow to cool.


For the modaks:


Roll out the dough as thinly as possible without tearing it. Place some filling inside and pleat the edge to form a cone. Pinch off the excess dough from the top once you have sealed the modak. (I formed a cup with the excess dough because we perform a modak aarti for Ganesha.) Place on a damp towel and cover.





For the Somashe:


Roll out the dough as thinly as possible without tearing it. Place it inside a somashi press. Place some filling on one half and dab a little water along the edges. Cover with the other half and close the press and hold it down. Remove the somashi from the press and seal the edges again with your fingers (just to be doubly sure!). Place on a damp towel and cover.


Deep fry the modaks and the somashe in hot oil and drain on a paper towel.


This also goes to dear Asha as yet another entry for the RCI Karnataka event. I am also sending this to Latha for her Gowri Ganesh event. I hope all of you enjoyed Ganesh Chaturthi. My wishes to you and yours.