Jaggery Recipe

                              3 Yummy Indian Recipes Made in Jaggery: Khaja, Tilkut and Anarsa

It was in the year 2007- I had got myself enrolled into a technical course. To me, the long theory classes were as dull as dishwater; the banausic lectures seemed quiet dreary to me and I would find myself yawning now and then. But thanks to the two 'intermissions' (lunch and coffee breaks) that my each day was saved from being called a tormenting one. It was during one of the table talks that I got to know some interesting stuff about Bihari cuisine.

All About Bihari Recipes

It all started like this- a bunch of us were babbling over food when a friend from Bihar asked, "Any idea of what litti is?" All I could say was-what? Before I could utter another word, he explained the whole meat and potatoes about this dish.  Two more friends joined him and exposed the rest of us to the entire Bihari cuisine. And there was no stopping for them now-they told it all; all about tastes and aromas, all about their preparation. I, being a glutton, remained tickled pink throughout their conversation. In the end, one of them even promised to bring 'Sattu Parantha' the next day, one of the popular dishes from the state.

Bihari food has influences of both North and East India. Once here, you can relish both the vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian delicacies. But under the influence of Buddhism, vegetarianism has gained weight. Consumption of milk and other diary products such as butter, lassi, yoghurt, buttermilk etc, is part of every day diet. The non-vegetarian Biharis gorge on kebabs, muttons, and other delicacies prepared from duck and fish. And one more specialty of bihari platter-the use of panchporan, which comprises of 5 basic ingredients: ajwain ,methi(fenugreek), mangraeel, sarso(mustard), saunf.

Most of the people from from Bihar know what 'sattu' is and how it is prepared. To make it, Barley seeds are soaked in water, are dried and roasted. They are then pulverized and the flour so formed is sattu.

That friend of mine, who had vouched for sattu paranthas fetched them the very next day. The only interjection that can explain their heavenly taste is-awwww! With a little preparation, you can make them at home; after all, cooking is not a rocket science. In this lens, however, I am going to tell three lesser known recipes.

Khaja Recipe

It was a great fun to prepare Khaja recipe. Let me share it with you. It is very simple and does not take much time. Khaja is a sugar-coated sweet made of all-purpose flour.

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)

½ tsp cardamom powder

4-5 tsps oil

½ cup sugar or jaggery

Water as per requirement

Put some pieces of jaggery in boiling water; stir well until all the pieces get dissolved. This syrup will be used later.

Mix all-purpose flour with a tsp oil.

Add cardamom  powder to it and start kneading with the jaggery water.

Make the dough pliable and hard enough to be rolled out.

Make small balls out of the dough.

With each ball, start making chapattis with a rolling pin.

Make long rolls out of each chapatti.

Cut each roll into 3-4 parts so that you have many 3-4 inches small rolls.

Press them from edges and make several cuts there with a knife.

Deeply fry the rolls in oil. Relish them hot. Store them in airtight container if you intend to eat them later.

Tilkut or Ladoo Recipe

As I am writing all this, my heart goes out to those who haven't tasted 'tilkut' or 'ladoos' made with sesame seeds, reason being that they are utterly delicious. Some sesame seeds, jaggery and oil are all what you need for preparing these ladoos.

500 gms of sesame seeds(til)

6-7 tsp oil/saturated oil

500 gms jiggery

Put seasme seeds in a heavy-bottomed pan.

Fry them without oil on medium flame.

Ladle them intermittently until the seeds turn golden brown.

Avoid over-frying or the seeds will get burnt.

Grind them coarsely.

Heat 6 tsp oil in a pan.

Put pieces of jaggery into the oil one by one. As you will see, jaggery melts into the oil after sometime.

Shut the burner off.

Add roasted sesame seeds to the jaggery paste and blend thoroughly.

Don't let the mixture cool down; make ball shapes out of the mixture while it is hot.

Anarsa Recipe

 Anarsa, a lovely sweet prepared specially around Diwali, is the specialty of Gaya district. Concocted with rice and jaggery and mellowed with oil, it is worth trying. And if you can devoid them from coming in contact with air, anarsas can be relished for many days. The recipe is simple.

2 cups of rice

A bowl of water

250 gms jaggery or sugar

50 gm milk

A few poppy seeds

 Keep about two cups of rice soaked in water continuously for three days; do not forget to change water every day or rice will stink.

On fourth day, drain water and let the rice dry for some hours.

Grind them now to make powder.

Add powdered jaggery or sugar to it and mix well. Allow this mixture to stand for at least three hours.

Knead it with minimal amount of milk; the dough so formed should not be too hard or too loose.

On a flat surface, spread some poppy seeds.

Make a small ball out of the dough and press it against the seeds so that they stick to the dough ball.

Flatten the ball a little by pressing it down with fingers.

Now fry this Anarsa in ghee keeping the seed-side up.

Cook till it acquires golden brown hue.

Serve hot or cool for at least 4 hours before storing them.