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Friday, October 16, 2009

Celebrating Kali Pujo & Diwali with Chhanar Jilipi

(Jalebi made out of cottage cheese)


It's that time of the year again!

Come September/October/November and the Indian Calendar is choc-a-block with festivities. Religious, social, cultural ... our festivities are a joyous symphony of vibrant colours, myriad tastes that tingle the palate and religious fervour that embraces and engulfs our sprirts. It's a time of the year I love and yearn for. The smell of new clothes, the anticipation of going home to family and friends, the smell of Pujo in the air, the sound of the Dhakis in the background are all so familiar and nostalgia evoking....yet gives me goosebumps every year thus creating the magic of pujo. For us since childhood, Pujor Chhuti meant Durga Puja followed by Lakshmi Puja and finally the festivities and fun would culminate with Kaali Puja exactly two weeks after Dussehra and finally Bhai Phonta just two days thereafter!


Maa Kaali
, the fierce incarnation the Durga, is worshipped on the Kartik Amavasya night in Bengal. While Ma Kaali is worshipped in Bengal, on the same day, Diwali is celebrated in the rest of the country and Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in most homes of North, South and Western India.

Diyas, candles, fireworks are an intrinsic part of both Kali Pujo as well as Diwali. And as in case of all Indian festivities, be it religious/cultural/social, food, especially a wide variety of sweets is an integral part of all our celebrations!

So on this ocassion of Kali Puja, as we indulge our sweet tooth, shoving to the backseat for a couple of weeks the fear of calories, pretending to ignore for a while the clockwise swing of the weighing scale needle, I bring to you a sweetdish I love.... CHHANAR JILIPI. I learnt it from my Ma during my Puja vacation and here I am sharing it with you......


Ingredients:
Chhana from 2 litres milk (check here to see how chhana is made in Points 1 & 2 of Process)
3 Black Elaichis, made into a paste (I used the green elaichi/cardamoms-around 5)
Maida (refined flour) - 2 - 3 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Baking Powder - a pinch
Sugar syrup using sugar : Water in the ration 1:1.5
Oil for deep frying


Procedure:

1. Knead the Chhana into a soft and smooth dough

2. Mix the Maida with the Oil.

3. Then mix the maida-oil mix to the chhana to give some firmness to the very soft chhana dough

3.Mix the elaichi paste and baking powder and again knead very well.


4. Pinch of small balls of chhana and roll into smooth balls.

5. Roll it into a snake like shape as shown above

6. Twist the two ends as shown in pics below.

6. Deep Fry each formed jalebi in the wok

7. Keep the sugar syrup hot/boiling.

8.Fry the jilipis and dunk them in the sugar syrup.

9. Let them stay dunked in the sugar syrup for about an hour when the jalebis soak in the sweetness of the syrup and turns juicy.

Serve hot or cold......

HAPPY DIWALI!!

This is my entry to the event FF:DIWALI DHAMAKA hosted by Purva Desai of PURVA's DAAWAT. The logo for the event is ....

10 comments:

Creativecook said...

Looks lovely, Happy Diwali to you! Welcome back!

Sudeshna said...

The chanar jalebi are just so perfect :). Wish you and your family a very happy and safe Diwali and Kali Puja. The oil lamps are looking so pretty :).
PS: Thanks a lot for mentioning our blog link in your post.

Indrani said...

channar jilipi looks perfect, sharmistha..shubho deepavali tomake aar tomar paribarke....congrats on making the list of Top 7 bengali food blogs..you really deserve it and I'm also on the list ....he he

Sharmistha Guha said...

@Rinku-Happy Diwali to you too...
Glad to be back!

Sharmistha Guha said...

@Sudeshna-Thanks so much. Wish you and your family a very Happy Diwali & Kali Pujo too....

@Indrani-Thank u!
And congrats on the top 7 bong food blog!!
Ar tomader shokolkeo Shubho Diwali & Kali Pujo'r priti o shubhechcha!

HR said...

oH! daroon.... but I was thinking why don't you write about the festivity in the other blog...that will be proper space to write..anyway your writing is always... a beauty...

Koel said...

Yummy!! I love chhanar jilipi, and I always thought it would be very tough to make....Now I think I can try too!!!
Hope you had a great Pujo and Diwali...

Preeti Kashyap said...

looks yummy! never have I tasted this dish....but shd try making it sometime!

Urmi said...

Wish you and your family a very happy and prosperous Diwali (belated). Uff..chhanar jilipi kotodin por dekhlam r shunlam o...Eto sundor presentation r tar shathe chhobi dekhe to jibhe jol eshe gelo...Amar bhishon priyo.

Sharmistha Guha said...

@HR-Jaani...kintu prochondo kuremi kaatiye eta restart korechhi. ;))

@Koel-Amio tai bhabtam....Ma makes pantua, chhanar jilipi quite often but me being the glutton and not the willing cook, never bothered to learn. This time when I learnt it, the simplicity was a pleasant surprise

@Preeti-Thanks....and welcome to my blog!

@Babli-Thanks so much...