I think this is a universal sweet. Everybody likes one or the other version of it.
Namewise, its called as Sheera/Sanja (Konkani), Kesari Baath (in Bangalore-Kannada, it should be bhath, not Baath though. I wonder why it is called ‘bhath’ because as far as I know ‘bhath’ means rice) and Sooji Halwa.
Recently we went out for lunch at ‘ Ruchi Indian Restaurant ‘ here in Overland park, KS, and I simply loved the food. Then they had this ‘Sooji Halwa’, which had the great aroma of ghee. I couldn’t eat it there because I was already full. So the next day I prepared our own ‘Sheera’. It came out great (except the aroma, because I had used ‘ Crisco Shortening ‘ instead of ‘ghee’), but still the taste was great.
Ingredients: Wheat sooji (wheat rava) 1 cup Sugar 3/4 cup Ghee 1 tbl spn Cloves 2-3 Raisins(Dried grapes) & Cashews 1 tea spn Milk 1/2 cup Water 1/2 cup Cardamom powder 1/2 tea spn Saffron(optional) a pinch
Method: Heat ghee and add cloves, cashews and raisins, fry for sometime. Add wheat sooji and fry on low flame till the nice aroma comes out. Add sugar, milk and water(add the saffron dissolved in water). Close and cook till water is absorbed. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Serve hot.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 10min
This is one of my favorite sweet. In my native North Kanara, I have seen some people who are experts in making these. I think a lot of patience and experience is required to get the perfect texture of this. I tried this for the first time, it tasted heavenly. Though I know I can improve a lot.
This is called Holige or Obbattu in Kannada. Unlike the normal obbattu, we add a pinch of turmeric to make it look yellowish(If there is another reason for adding turmeric, I am not aware of it!!!).
I had never thought I will even try to make them in my life. But then, my blog has changed a lot of things in my life :). When I was a kid, I pestered my Aayi to make them for me. She asked me hundred times, “are you sure, you are going to eat them??”, I think she knew I wont eat much. But she still prepared it for me. I ate just ONE (I had asked her to make a lot of them, so that I can eat for a week or so). She had to finish the remaining somehow. From then onwards, she never made them again 🙁 (I was(am) very bad at eating). Please make sure you have patience and time before trying it. If you make them in hurry, you might completely spoil them ;).
Ingredients: Chana dal 1 cup Jaggery 1 cup Cardamom 1 tea spn Maida/Plain flour 1 and 1/2 cups Turmeric a pinch Wheat sooji(rava) (optional) 2 tea spns Oil 1 tea spn Salt a pinch
Method: Cook Chana dal in pressure cooker. Drain all the water. Cook dal mixed with jaggery for 10min. Grind without using water. Add cardamom and mix well with hand to get a smooth mixture. (This mixture is called “HooraNa” in Kannada). Mix flour/maida with sooji(optional), turmeric, salt. Add water,oil and make a dough. Cover and keep aside for 1hr. (This mixture is called “KaNaka” in Kannada). Take a ball of dough and spread with hand. Keep a ball of chana mixture and cover with the dough and seal the ends as shown in the picture.
Apply oil to a plastic paper, keep the ready ball on it and roll it like chapathi (The plastic and oil prevents it from sticking). Fry on hot tava till it gets golden brown color. Serve hot/cold with ghee.
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 45min
Some tips (I read this somewhere and felt worth mentioning them): – Use milk instead of water for making the maida dough to make pooran polis very soft. – Use Toor dal along with chana dal to make them more thin and soft. – If the chana dal mixture becomes too dry and cannot be made into balls, add some avalakki(thin poha) or 1 spn rice flour to it. – Use rava and flour in 1:1 proportion to make the outer wrap very soft.
