Every Diwali I like to prepare some sweets at home & enjoy the festival of lights. This time I wanted to prepare a Maharashtrian delicacy so I felt an ideal way to celebrate the festivities would be with Chirote. Chirote is a traditional & authentic Maharashtrian sweet, served as Faral during Diwali. Faral is an assortment of traditional sweets & savouries served during Diwali. In Pune, there are various shops which specialize in authentic festive delicacies but many take pride in preparing it themselves at home even though it is quite elaborate & time consuming. So here is this wonderful recipe for you. Happy Diwali to all ! Enjoy J
Ingredients :
For the Dough :
11/2 cup Refined Flour (Maida)
Salt to taste
Water (enough for binding the dough)
500 gms. Ghee for frying & to use in the dough
1 tbsp Corn flour (for the Cream layer)
Rice flour for sprinkling
For the Sugar Syrup :
1/2 cup Sugar
1/3 tsp. Cardamom pwd.
1 cup water
For Garnishing :
2 tbsps. flaked Almonds & Pistachios
6 candied Cherries halved or quartered
Method :
Preparation of the Cream Layer :
In a bowl take 1 tbsp.ghee & whip it with a spoon till it is light & fluffy. Add 1 tbsp. cornflour & mix well. Keep aside for further use.
Preparation of the Dough :
Sieve the maida in a sufficiently large bowl. Add salt & mix together. To this add 1 tsp. of hot ghee & mix well with your hands till it resembles bread crumbs. Add a little water at a time & knead to form a stiff dough. Keep aside for 2 hrs. or more if possible.
Preparation of the Rose Flower Chirote :
Divide the dough into 4 equal size balls & roll out into round discs/chapatti which are of medium thickness. The rolled out discs should be of uniform shape & size. Spread a thin film of melted ghee over one disc & then spread the prepared cream in an even layer, sprinkle a little rice flour & then place the second disc over it. Repeat the process, apply ghee first & then the cream for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th discs as well. Now roll these layered compact discs into a tight roll (like a swiss roll). Cut this roll into ½ cm. slices. Take one of the slices & press gently between the palms, making sure that the layers are not destroyed. Place a piece of polythene smeared with ghee on the rolling board. Put the flattened slice of pastry over it. Now place another piece of ghee smeared polythene over the pastry. This elaborate arrangement is to prevent the pastry from sticking to the board while rolling & also to prevent the rolling pin from ironing out all the lines formed by the 4 layers. Roll out to a circle of about 7 cm. Heat the ghee in a kadhai/wok till hot. Reduce heat & gently slide in the rolled chirota, basting the top with hot ghee from the kadhai to allow all the layers to open out to look like a rose. Fry till light brown & drain using a slotted spoon. Place on a plate lined with tissue. Let it cool. Prepare a sugar syrup of one string consistency. Add cardamom pwd. to the syrup. Pour the cool syrup on the cooled chirotes. Garnish with flaked almonds pistachios, cherries & serve.
