Gargi | Red pumpkin sweet

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Gargi is a sweet dish from North Karnataka. It looks very similar to Athras/kajjaya but it's softer in texture and made of pumpkin. I have gulped down many of these in my friends' place during school days. It was never made at our house for whatever reason and I had almost forgotten about it.

The other day I brought a red pumpkin and I was thinking of recipes. While on the phone with my doc sis she reminded me of Gargi and also told me a recipe from her patient. I finished the call with a promise to make this for her when we meet next time :)) Surprisingly My little one who doesn't like the taste of pumpkin polished off 3 of them at one go. So I made it couple of times again and it was a quick hit. Here you go with the recipe.

Ingredients:
Grated Pumpkin : 1 cup
Jaggery: 1/2 cup
Wheat Flour: 2-3 tbsp
Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
A pinch of salt
Ghee: 1 tbsp
Oil: To deep fry

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a pan and add grated pumpkin and salt, saute for 5 minutes or until the pumpkin becomes soft.

2. Add in jaggery and cardamom powder and saute on low flame for about 2-3 minutes. Now the pumpkin mixture will become a bit gooey.

3. Turn off the flame and add wheat flour, adjust the quantity of flour depending on the moisture in the pumpkin. Make a soft dough.

4. Take a small lemon sized dough and roll and press it on your palm and make a hole in the center like a donut. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown on medium flame.

5. Remove on absorbent paper and relish :)

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Avalakki Chooda | Poha Chiwda |Spicy beaten rice Mixture.

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Avalakki chooda or poha chiwda. Learn how to make crispy beaten rice mixture.

This is my favorite snack since childhood. 100s of things rush through my memory lane when I think of chooda. It was my snack in the tiffin box on all Saturdays in school days. My savior when I hated the hostel food or when late night hunger pangs striked us girls during exams.

Talking about my hostel life we had a unique way of eating the softened/limp chooda after we have it in store for more than a month :P We would mix up all sort of choodas which has lost the crispiness, sprinkle water and sauce from pickle and mix it well and that was the perfect and the most tastiest midnight snack for us. 

To cut the long story short this snack has been part of my school and college days and still continues to be my favorite:-)) 

Traditionally the beaten rice was sun dried until it was crunchy and then mixed with spicy, nutty masala. I like it with a lot of rich nuts, spice and a bit of sweetness. Adjust the amount of ingredients as per your taste.

Ingredients: 
Medium Avalakki (Beaten rice/Poha) : 1/2 kg
Peanuts: 4 tbsp
Cashew: 12-15
Raisins: 4 tbsp
Sliced dry coconut: few pieces
Roasted Bengal Gram (Putani/Hurigadle/Dalia): 3 tbsp
Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp
Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp
Curry Leaves: 3 sprigs
Green chilli : 4-5
Powdered Sugar : 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil: 3-4 tbsp

Method: 
1. Heat a big deep pan and dry roast avalakki/beaten rice. Keep mixing it for 3-4 minutes or until the avalakki turns crunchy.

2. Remove it and keep aside and heat oil in the same pan.

3. Add Mustard seeds, when it splutters add peanuts and sauté for 30 seconds and then mix in Halved Cashews and fry them for a while. Next add Raisins, Dry coconut, roasted Bengal Gram and fry on low flame for 30 seconds.Add asafoetida, curry leaves, finely chopped green chillies and turmeric.Saute until the curry leaves and chillies turn crispy. Keep the flame low so that the nuts are not burnt.

4. Next add roasted avalakki, sugar and salt and mix everything up nicely.

5. Keep it on low flame for 2 minutes and turn off the flame and let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes, do not cover with lid.

6. Let it cool down and store the crispy beaten rice mixture or chooda in an airtight container.

Notes: 
1. You can fry all dry fruits and nuts one by one and remove and keep it aside. When the tempering is ready add them back to pan along with roasted avalakki. This way the nuts will not burn although it takes a little extra time.
2. If there is space and option to sun dry the avalakki until they turn crisp, you can skip roasting them on the pan and directly add them to the tempering.
3. You can skip raisins if you do not like the sweet taste in the mixture.
4. Adjust number of chillies as per your taste, you can also add 1/2 tsp red chilli powder if you like it very spicy.

5. Deep fry the beaten rice if you are using thick variety.

6. If you are using thin variety, roast it just for a minute. After mixing the masala turn off the flame immidiately as thin poha is easily broken and the mixture gets powdered when stored.

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