After over a week, I got back to writing a blog post. I would have started next week, then tomorrow starts "Ganesh Utsav", many Indians would worship Lord Ganesha for few days starting tomorrow. I felt, I have to have my contribution in the celebration. Its only a week my beloved men left home, I just cannot get you a dry fruit loaded sweet to prepare and offer it to your lord. Then, the question arises who will eat them? I try to restrict my sugar intake, I would prefer to indulge into having the pleasure of "Teh Tarik" and "Coffee with Milk & Sugar." If you had seen my "Janmashtami" Platter, I tried to make a cut on the sweets I offer. My mother-in-law may say a new born baby cannot have nimki, yet. If we believe Gods have supernatural powers, young Ganesha or Ladoo too can manage the vegetarian fried snack MULTIGRAIN ATTA NIMKI.
In this homemade, snack item; I have used very few ingredients; multigrain flour, oil, salt, carom seeds, baking powder. Butter or Ghee would have imparted a great aroma but I did not use them, I though very much wished to use Ghee / Clarified Butter. They were good, I am having them with tea or coffee or just like that. That is the whole idea of getting some change in the menu list of my offerings to the God Family on any special prayer meet days. I am growing old with diabetes, hypothyroidism and a tendency towards a higher level of cholesterol. I do not invite a couple of families on such days for two reasons; I have stopped mingling with some and I have space crunch. I cannot entertain people who unnecessarily pinch you.
There are homes where every weekend food went, sent with love and care. People at that home if say they cannot have my food and make every attempt to tell me they are Brahmins and think only Brahmins should cook for the God Family, I should draw the boundary at some point. They never said a no when boxes full of "khichuri-labra" went from my home to their's. How will I know if they had thrown off my food or not; I will not allow any disrespect shown to my genuine effort. I never felt they cook any special, quality food during any puja being a Brahmin. I have the decency not to say anything straight on face but I will not allow people to cross the boundary; they are not my family that I have to tolerate. I do not like people who mince words. I do not use slang, what I can say is "get lost and learn to behave."
Anyway, this deep fried, vegetarian snack MULTIGRAIN ATTA NIMKI can be good enough to offer to the God Family. Bengalis do not usually make such offers but I enjoy watching the rest of India offering lemon rice to pakoras to nimkis during any festival. I have to follow those ideas. I totally love "chirey-khoi er murki", "murir moya" as an offering but I have to eat them all for a week after the prayer meet is over. I cannot take that risk at this time. Life will continue to be good if the son can study uninterrupted, stay healthy; the senior can come back home safely, back in India my family stay well without the virus attacking them. These are the assurances I want from the Almighty. I never miss gatherings, outings with gangs in my life; I do not enjoy them much, specially when they discuss people in their absence. Below is what I was doing this morning, sowing ripe chilli seeds.
I cannot remember how many attempts I made to grow chilli plants and failed. But I cook well. By the way, I always think snacks made with refined flour taste the best, okay it may not be a healthier option.
INGREDIENTS :
MULTI GRAIN ATTA / FLOUR : 1 1/2 COFFEE MUG
CARROM SEED : 1 TSP
BAKING POWDER : 1/2 TSP
SALT : 1/2 TSP
OIL : 3 TBSP + 50 ML TO DEEP FRY
PROCEDURE :
Take the multigrain atta flour, carom seeds, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Mix well and add to it the oil.
Rub well for 2-3 minutes.
Add water little by little and knead well to get a smooth and firm dough. This will take some 10-12 minutes.
Keep covered for 15-20 minutes. Remove cover, knead for 2 minutes.
Tear off tennis ball sized portions and smoothen between your palms.
Use the rolling pin to roll them big. They need not be perfectly round in shape.
With the back of a knife, cut into pieces. I was not in the mind to be very particular with the shapes. I am pretty sure you all will shape them better.
Heat the oil, I mean just warm it. The trick to get them crisp and keep them crisp for days lies in the technique of frying and the temperature of the oil.
Here we need patience and Cristine did help.
Add some of the uncooked snacks to the wok when the oil is warm and not hot.
Fry them in very low heat until golden brown. At times you may have to switch off the heat to adjust the temperature of the oil.
Place them onto tissue paper before putting them into a container. Do not refrigerate them.
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