CURRY AND SPICE: CHAL GUR NARKOL BHAPE

HAPPINESS IS GETTING THINGS DONE ACCORDING TO THE PLAN; IN MY CASE, IT IS THE RIGHT KIND OF COOKING! IT CAN BE SORU CHAKLI SOMEDAY; A STEAMED, OIL-FREE COCONUT JAGGERY DELIGHT, ON THE OTHER!

Every thing went through as per my planning and that makes me happy. I wished to change the photographs of my SHORU CHAKLI / SORU CHAKLI PITHE sooner. Hence, on this MAKAR SANKRANTI day, today, I had offered it to my God family along with payesh / Bengali rice pudding.

Yes, I did this less number of items. Who will eat? Had the son be there, he would still, being a young guy. We are in our fifties; I would love to have but my medical conditions do not allow me to. The man is restrictive about the amount and variety of food for over a decade now. I do not like food going to a waste, neither get stale. Yet, we get to eat stale a lot. The day before; I got late in the preparation of "sheddo puli" / STEAMED RICE SNACK STUFFED WITH COCONUT JAGGERY MIX actually, then I changed my plan and got this easier CHAL GUR NARKOL BHAPE!

THE CHAKRA / CIRCLE OF HOME, FOOD, COOKING IN THE PRESENT DAY SITUATION!

Some evenings, the man comes late, eats half the amount than what he eats usually. Every day, he has to booze a bit; a can of beer which has now turned to whisky. So there is no question of serving sweet dishes at night to him. I will not serve him "thakurer proshad" / something I had offered to my God family if he boozes. So, I cooked few crepes and the pudding, offered to my Gods; chanted the relevant mantra. Thereafter, I had cooked few more, clicked the platter and had sent a little amount to my neighbours! The rest of the batter would be used at night, to be had with a salty curry or veg dish. Tomorrow morning, his lunch box would be packed with flat or puffed bread, payesh and some of this CHAL GUR NARKOL BHAPE; a steamed, vegan, gluten-free delight! Imagine, some days he has declared official lunches, some days he has impromptu and brings back the entire FOOD BOX sent. I get irritated.

MORE ABOUT THIS CHAL GUR NARKOL BHAPE / A STEAMED, VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE, OIL FREE PITHE SNACK!

I had prepared this HEALTHY SNACK the day before. I wished to blog about it today. Else, I would have cooked and offered more today! The guy is so much busy in office, reduced his appetite so much that he has to eat stale. I did not like it that we had our lunch with the crepes way before the man would. I like having together whatever I cook outside of the regular. Then, I think, if we can eat leaving the son, we can adjust to any situation! If I wait for the man to have it, I had to arrange another lunch platter for us; Cristine and me. Better we accept the need of the hour and move on. What I cannot accept is the son's weird, incommunicado self! The approaching menopause, the men's weirdly selves, few people's behaviour; everything taken together cause me severe irritation. Yet, it is your own who will stand by you in the worst case scenario, the rest can be ignored, you are a non-entity outside your boundary wall. It's a pleasure to be able to do anything for them, if only they took a bit of interest in my hobby of cooking, encouraged & helped me to go further with it! Sigh! But they eat what I cook, may be after 2-3 days, but they do. Do I cook too much? Yes, I do! It keeps me happy & engaged, I wish to earn from it!

INGREDIENTS :

RICE FLOUR : 11/2 COFFEE MUG

SHREDDED COCONUT : 200 GM

JAGGERY : 1/3 SMALL TEA CUP [I USED THREE ROUND SLABS OF COCONUT ROCK SUGAR]

BROWN SUGAR : 2 TBSP

GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : 1/2 TSP

PROCEDURE :

I had put a pan on top of the gas stove and switched it on. I had added the coconut rock sugar and a little of water.

It will melt and simmer for sometime to get a sticky texture, that is when I had added the shredded coconut and folded in very well.

There after, I had added the cardamom powder and about 2 tbsp of brown sugar.

I had stir cooked at minimal heat for 7-8 minutes and took it down. We need not be too particular about the stickiness of the coconut & jaggery, we are not preparing naru / balls / ladoo from it!

While the mixture is cooling, let us get the rice flour ready!

I had heated a pan and took the rice flour in it, roasted it well in minimal heat for at least 7-8 minutes. We had added the salt thereafter and mixed well.

I had added hot water little by little to the roasted rice flour; say about a coffee mug or more.

We had cooked it for 3-4 minutes at a very low heat and took it down, transferred to a bowl.

I had let it cool a bit. I find this part a bit hard, we have to knead the dough when the mixture is still hot. It hurts the palm a bit.

Just when I was about to stuff and shape the "pulis", an easier idea came to my mind. The Terunelveli Halwa left a bad taste and it was already 9pm; I am not too good with puli shapes made alone with rice flour dough! I wanted a vegan & gluten-free treat!

I did what you see. I added the coconut-jaggery mixture to the dough and mixed together well.

Whilst, I was shaping them very casually, my made to steamer prepared with a half filled vessel with water, a colander on top and a towel tied lid to cover was getting the water boil.

But, yesterday, I got a proper steamer at a discount! You may too!