ANARSA/ ATARAS

Anarsa - A traditional Maharashtrian delicacy made of rice flour and jaggery is a recipe prepared to celebrate diwali. This crispy crunchy pastry like snack is prepared in Uttar Pradesh also during festive occasions. Preparing the dough for anarase is a lengthy process, but the end result is worth trying.

Ingredients:

· Rice – 1 cup (preferably use old rice)

· Water - 2 cups

· Jaggery – ½ cup (grated)

· Oil for frying

Method:

· Wash the rice 3-4 times and soak the rice for 3 days.

· Continue doing this all the 3 days, wash the rice well and change the water daily.

· After 3 days you may feel that the rice has little smell, it’s absolutely fine.

· Drain all the water from rice and spread it on clean and dry cloth and let it dry completely. This may take 3-4 hours.

· Put the rice in the blender jar and grind it. Sieve the rice flour through a strainer.

· Blend the flour again that remains after the rice flour is sieved.

· Now add jaggery. Preferably avoid using the one that is used to make chikki. Mix jaggery well with rice flour.

· You can add this mixture into a blender jar and blend it once more.

· Pour the the mixture in a mixing bowl.

· Now cover and keep it aside for 2 hours, after some time rice and jaggery will release the moisture and we can prepare nice dough out of it.

· After 2 hours you can blend it once more in a blender jar.

· In case, If the mixture is dry, you can add 2-3 tsp milk to it and make the dough. Don’t add too much water.

· Now knead it and make a thick dough.

· Cover and keep it overnight so that it is nicely fermented. In case it’s not fermented well, let is rest for 1 more day. Cover and keep.

· Once the dough is fermented well make small balls out of the dough. Grease bit ghee or oil to hand and roll it into a disk with hands only.

· Set the oil kadai and let the oil boil.

· You can spread the poppy seeds on the parchment paper and put anarsa small ball over poppy seeds and roll out using your fingers (grease the fingers with ghee).

· Don’t keep all the anarsase ready. When you fry one anarase, roll out another one.

· While frying, oil should not be too hot. Keep the heat on medium to low flame.

· While dropping the anarasa in hot oil, make sure that the side having poppy seeds faces up.

· Sprinkle a little oil over it continuously and fry on low heat for 4-5 minutes.

· Fry until they turn nice golden brown in colour.

· Remove from oil and put it on the tissue paper.

· Fry all the anarase in the same way, once cooled store these in an air tight container.

· Enjoy these crispy and crunchy anarase with your family and friends.