Coconut Barfi

Khobryachi barfi, Naralachya vadya- Indian style coconut fudge

One of the many things I patronize is Baby Atya's Khobryachya vadya! They just hit the spot. And she is extremely sweet to make it for me everytime I go visit her. Now this is not her recipe which is maybe way too complicated for my coking skills :/ on top of having a record of never turning out the same way :(

So here I designed a new easy recipe :P Its almost as good as Baby Atya's! very easy, takes only 15 minutes, although looks complicated and elaborate! Make it next time when you have guests over instead of buying expensive and unhealthy sweets..

You will need:

1.5 cup shredded coconut (fresh or frozen-thawed (approx 1/2 packet))- cleaned
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh khawa (mawa) OR 1/2 cup mawa powder+2 tbsp milk
1 heaped teaspoon of ghee
a dash of powdered cardamom
a pinch of saffron (toasted slightly)
chopped pistachios for garnish (you can use almonds or silver foil too!)

Keep an aluminium tray greased with ghee ready (i used a cake tin)

Take a non-stick pan and start cooking the coconut on low flame
stir constantly and cook until the coconut gets a little dry (do not let it turn golden/brown) (10 min)
add sugar and mix well
cook coconut-sugar mixture, until all sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes dry and soft (3 min)
Do not overcook, or sugar will get sticky.
add the wawa and mix well (1 min)
add ghee and mix (1 min)
turn heat off. Add cardamom and saffron.

Transfer mixture into the greased tin
Press flat with hand to desired thickness
add chopped pistachios on top and press with hand
cut squares while still warm and soft
let it set for a couple of hours
remove and separate squares..

Karanji (olya naralachi)

Fried dumplings with a sweet Fresh coconut filling! Made specially for festivals.

This is the best karanji recipe that I know of. It is crisp, golden and perfect on the outside and the filling is soft, juicy and just perfect. Whats more perfect about this recipe is that, its super-easy!! Could it get any better?! 

All thanks to my brilliant mom :) Hats off to her for such a genius recipe.. It has a secret ingredient in the filling, that you will find hard to believe, but just trust me and try this!

You will need:

(makes 15 Karanjis)

Dough:

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup semolina, fine (sooji, rawa)

milk (room temperature)

2 tbsp hot oil

Filling:

1 cup grated coconut (press it to remove all moisture and then measure)

3/4 cup sugar (fine or powdered)

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

saffron

2 tbsp whole wheat flour (atta) ****secret ingredient :)

1.5 tbsp ghee

equipment:

rolling board and pin

pan with oil for frying

ravioli cutter (i did not have one, so i folded the edges decoratively)

To make dough:

First of all, make the dough and keep. The longer it sits, the sooji hydrates better and is easy to work with.

mix all the dough ingredients, and knead a stiff dough (not too stiff but not too hard)

Wrap in saran wrap and keep aside.

To make the filling:

roast the wheat flour with the ghee on a pan till golden (like besan ladoo)

let the roasted mixture cool- should be grainy, golden and smells very aromatic

once cooled, add it to the coconut in a bowl.

add sugar, cardamom and saffron to the bowl 

*note: only the wheat flour is cooked. rest of the ingredients are just mixed cold.

To prepare the karanjis:

roll out a small ball of dough into a flat circle, without dusting the board (use oil, if it sticks)

Place filling in the centre

Apply little water to the edge of half of the circle (as shown)

fold over the circle and press, to secure the filling inside a semi-circular dumpling.

Cut the excess edge with a ravioli cutter (i did not have one, so i pressed and foldede the edge), this makes sure that the karanji does not burst while frying, also makes it look pretty :)

Once you have a few Karanjis ready, you can start frying on low flame, in already heated oil. Fry until golden. Best enjoyed when warm!

Happy Diwali!