Ghaarge (A Delicious Travel Snack)

OK People I am leaving on Sunday morning for India and will not be blogging for 3 whole weeks. There are a thousand things I need to do before I leave but it seems as if I just cannot let go of my blog. I am still cooking as I need to finish quite a lot of stuff in my kitchen cupboards and fridge. So when I saw this big piece of red pumpkin in the fridge I knew I had to use it, and use it in such a way that everybody in the house would finish it up before we left . I do not want any leftovers at this moment. Then I had an idea. You see my little one does not take too well to airline food and just barely manages to nibble on a piece of bread or roll or whatever the airline people have deemed as suitable to serve the economy class passengers. So its always a good idea to carry some easy to carry food alond with me just for him. So when I saw the pumpkin these Ghaarge were the first and the best thing that came to mind. They are easy to make, easy to carry,easy for a child to eat while travelling, very nutritious, and keep for at least 5 days without refrigeration

Ghaarge is such an authentic Marathi snack that calling it puris or anything else would just be so wrong. The word is pronounced ghaargay for those reading it for the first time.

Here is what you need:

About 200 gms of grated raw pumpkin (i.e about 2 cups)

1 cup fresh grated coconut,

1.5 cups grated jaggery,

1 cup rice flour,

2 cups wholewheat flour,

a pinch of salt,

apinch of turmeric powder,

1 to 2 tblspns oil,

Oil for frying

Procedure:

In a pan heat 2 tblspns oil ,mix the grated pumpkin, coconut and turmeric powder and steam them over a gentle heat until the pumpkin softens. Next add the jaggery and let it melt completely. After the jaggery has melted cover the pan and cook for a few seconds on gentle heat. Now add the rice and wholewheat flours and stir them in . There is no need of heavy kneading. Just bring all the ingredients together to form a dough. Cover and let it rest for at an hour. You can also keep it overnight.

Next make small balls from the dough and spread them out between to sheets of greased plastic to the size of a puri and fry these in hot oil .

These Ghaarge taste great when they still hot, but even better once thay have cooled down and the best when they are one or two days old. If they last that long that is.

And yes this is definitely my last post now until I come back end January. Wish you all a Very Happy Wholesome New Year