ANARSA (AUTHENTIC RECIPE FOR ANARSA)

 

Anarsa is a festive snack from Maharashtra prepared during Diwali. This delicious sweet is made from rice and jaggery and deep fired in desi ghee or clarified butter. This recipe is considered to be quite intimidating by many but it is not true. You should surely try it once to believe it.
Different recipes for anarsa are available. Anarsa can be prepared with jaggery as well as sugar or both can be used in half proportion. Results are assured if the given recipe is followed as it is.
This is my all time favourite sweet. Though it has a high calorie count, believe me it is all worth it.

My grandma used to make anarsas that were crispy from outside and soft from inside. This particular recipe is passed on to me from my mother. She says I make better anarsas than her. These words from her make me feel great.

Recipe for Anarsa

Ingredients

• Rice – 250 gms,
• Jaggery – 250 gms,
• Poppy seeds – 50 gms,
• Ghee for deep frying.

How to make

Wash the rice and drain the water. Soak the rice in water for 3 days. Change the water every 24 hours at the same time of the day.

On the 4^th day drain the water completely. By now rice may have a sour smell which is a good sign. Transfer the rice on a clean cotton cloth and let it day (in shade only).

Crush or grate the jaggery and keep aside.

Grind the rice to fine powder and sieve it to get a fine powder. This process of grinding and sieving the rice should be done as fast as possible because we require the rice powder to be little moist when we mix the jaggery with it.

Now add the grate jaggery to the rice powder and mix well with hands to from a dough.

Keep this dough in an air tight container for 4 days.

On the 5^th day the dough is ready to use.

Spread some poppy seeds on a plate. Heat some ghee for deep frying.

Grease your palms with ghee. Take a lemon size portion of the dough and roll it between the palms to form a ball.

Place the ball on the seeds and press it lightly with tip of the index fingers to from a thick puri.

Slide one anarsa (poppy seeds side up) at a time into the medium hot ghee.

Put some hot ghee over the anarsa with a slotted spoon. This is done to ensure that both the sides of the anarsa are cooked evenly.

Fry till golden brown for a minute. Drain the excess ghee and remove in a serving plate lined with paper towel.

Tips

• After 4 days if you feel that the dough is very dry, you can add one teaspoon of mashed banana or milk. More can be added if required.
• Anarsas should not be flipped while deep frying.
• Avoid using very moist jaggery for this recipe.