To bring these memories alive and rekindle your festive spirit in these bleak times, we invited home chef Meena Paranjape, to share a quick and easy-to-nail recipe that is made with everyday dry ingredients available in our kitchens
For children of the Paranjape household in Pune, memories of visarjan of their beloved Vighnaharta (demolisher of obstacles) are incomplete without the crunchiness of desiccated coconut and the sweetness of mishri and dry fruits served together in one traditional sweet, khirapat. "As kids, we would wait wide-eyed for the aarti to get over on the last day of the visarjan in the hope of devouring fistfuls of khirapat," recalls Jayesh Paranjape, who runs culinary tours through his venture, Western Routes. To bring these memories alive and rekindle your festive spirit in these bleak times, we invited his mother, home chef Meena Paranjape, to share a quick and easy-to-nail recipe that is made with everyday dry ingredients available in our kitchens. Don't forget to devour it, but ensure you do the aarti first.
ADVERTISEMENT
Khirapat panchakhadya
Total time: 10 minutes Yield: 4
Ingredients
½ cup desiccated coconut
1 tbsp powdered sugar or rock sugar
½ tsp khus-khus (poppy seeds) powder
1 tbsp dried dates powder
a pinch of cardamom powder
Raisins or other dry fruits like cashews or almonds as per your choice
Method
Grate the dried coconut. Set aside the desiccated mixture in a bowl. Set a pan over a low flame. When it's piping hot, add the grated coconut and dry-roast it for a minute or two. Keep the flame low at all times; stay alert so it doesn't burn. When the grated coconut has lost its chewy texture, is roasted enough and becomes brittle and crispy, transfer it to a bowl. Allow it to cool. Add poppy seeds or khus-khus to the pan and dry-roast it till golden. Once done, grind it into a powder and set it aside. If you do not have dry date powder at home, take some dried dates, dry-roast them in a similar manner like the poppy seeds, and grind to get the powder. Once that's done, mix the dry ingredients — the toasted grated coconut, powdered sugar, poppy seeds and cardamom. Throw in raisins, cashew or almonds and it's ready.
Keep scrolling to read more news
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
