Diwali treats

Happy Diwali to all of you! Although the greetings are a tad belated, the Diwali spirit still prevails a week later in our home with the yummy sweets and snacks that mark the occasion. Diwali to me is glamorized by new clothes, fireworks and sweets (not necessarily in that order) and of course, the triumph of good over evil (not to pique my teeny spiritual side!). After coming to the US, with Diwali almost always falling on a work day, wearing new clothes or 'bursting' fireworks is not really possible. So my tradition has been to make the bakshanam (sweets and savories) at home and consume them in all glory on the festive day. And yes, I do share with friends! This year I made the traditional gothumai (wheat) halwa and ribbon pakoda. On previous occasions, I have tried to take the easy route and have made the halwa with store bought atta (wheat flour). But this never matches the real deal. This year I took traditional route, soaking whole wheat overnight and removing the 'milk' by grinding it the next day. The process is not as arduous as it sounds and the results make the efforts worth it. The savory 'Ribbon' pakoda is a kind of chakli/murukku, shaped like a ribbon as the name suggests. You need the typical achu (press) to make this. It can be compared to an icing cone with a long thin perforation.

Here are the recipes!

Halwa

Assemble

• 1 cup Whole wheat (wheat grains)
  
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups Sugar (can add more -upto 3 cups- to suit your taste)
• 5 -6 Elaichis (cardamom) - gently powdered with a pestle
  
• 1/2 cup Ghee (Increase if you like)
  
• Saffron color - 1 pinch

For garnishing - 1/2 cup chopped dry fruits (cashew, almonds or pista) lightly fried in 2 teaspoon ghee

Method

• Wash and soak the wheat overnight for atleast 12 hours.
• Grind the wheat in a blender with a cup of water. Then strain the mixture to dilute the thick milk.
• Add one more cup of water and grind again. Repeat the straining process. You will be left with only the husk.
• Pour the milk in a thick bottomed vessel on low heat. Add the sugar..
• Keep stirring continuously. This is the difficult part as even a little settling of the contents can cause the halwa to burn.
  
• Once the halwa starts to thicken, add the ghee. Keep stirring.
• Add the elaichi powder and saffron color. Keep stirring till the halwa leaves the side of the vessel and stirs with the ladle as one big mass. Then you know its done. Alternatively you could roll a piece of the halwa into a ball to see if its done.
• Add the dry fruits.Spread on a greased plate. Cut into desired shape when cool.

Ribbon Pakoda

Assemble

2 cups besan (gram flour)
1 cup rice flour
1 tbsp ghee
3 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp salt
A pinch of asfoetida
Oil to deep fry

Method

• Add all the ingredients together and make a soft dough with water (1/2 cup)as you would make for rotis. If the dough is too soft, the ribbon pakoda will not turn out to be crisp. If it too hard, then it will be very difficult to squeeze the press.
  
• Heat oil in a big wok for deep frying.
• Put the dough into the achu and squeeze over the hot oil ino big circles. The shape does not matter coz you will break them into strips after frying.
• Remove and drain oil once the ribbon pakodas turn golden brown.
• Store in air tight containers.