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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Gharge -- A sweet begininning (Pumpkin based sweet puri)

The New Year is here! I cannot believe that 2007 is already over...seems like yesterday when I published my first recipe on my blog! Last year was a real turning point for me and I am excited to see what lies ahead in this year for me. I would like to wish all my friends and their families a very happy & prosperous 2008 and I hope that all your dreams come true this year!
As this is my first post for 2008, I thought of starting the year with something sweet. With all the channels bombarding us with diet & gym ads, I decided to rebel. Besides this recipe is one that is mildly sweet and does have a fruit in it. I had actually made this during fall when pumpkins were in abundance, but somehow I just did not manage to post it then. Although it may be difficult to find pumpkins in the store now, you can use any pumpkin/squash that is slightly sweeter in taste and it will work just perfectly.
'Gharge' is a very traditional Maharashtrian sweet that slowly is getting lost in time. I love this sweet for two reasons:
First, its just so yummy --- its not too sweet and even people with a limited sweet tooth will enjoy this, and the second reason is that this was something my maternal grandma made a lot for us and has a lot of memories attached to it.
Gharge is basically a sweet puri that has pumpkin as one if its major ingredient. My grandma generally made this on the eve of 'Hartalika puja'. 'Hartalika' is a Maharashtrian tradition where young girls observe a fast and do a puja to obtain an 'ideal groom'. This falls just before Ganesh Chaturthi. The eve of Hartalika is called 'aawarna', which is a time for all the ladies of the house to get together and have a small feast before their upaas (fast) the next day. After all, we do sacrifice good food for a day ! ;) We always followed this tradition and all my cousins and aunts used to come together and celebrate. And for this occasion my grandma always made these delicious Gharge. So lets get straight to the recipe...

Ingredients: (makes 12 gharge)
2 cups pumpkin peeled and grated (I used the mini pumpkins)
1 cup jaggery (gul)
1/2 cup wheat flour (atta/kanik)
1/2 cup fine rawa/sooji
1/2 tsp tup (ghee)
Vegetable oil to fry

Method:
Peel and then grate the pumpkin. Traditionally we use the regular pumpkin known as 'laal bhopla' in Marathi, but you can replace these with any variety of pumpkin/squash that is slightly sweeter in taste. Now in a kadhai/pan combine the grated pumpkin and jaggery and cook together. Once the the mixture comes together and the pumpkin is cooked add the ghee to it. Remove from the heat and then mix in the wheat flour and rawa to the pumpkin mixture till everything comes together like a dough. The dough should not be too tight nor too elastic. Note that the wheat flour and rawa have to be in 50:50 ratio. Let the dough cool. Once cooled take a small ball of dough on a plastic sheet and pat it into a small puri with your hand. Heat the oil and then fry the puri until golden brown. Drain the these on a tissue paper and enjoy ! Gharge can be consumed immediately or can easily be stored for 10-15 days at room temperature.

39 comments:

Pooja said...

sweet bigging is great idea....:)).
happy new year to u.
loved the dish and pic too...

Srivalli said...

Tee, that looks great..very tempting indeed. Nice of you to share a traditional sweet. Wish you a very happy new year. And expecting to see many more traditional dishes coming from your kitchen!

Sig said...

Great way to start the new year - sweet beginning indeed! Wish you a happy 2008 Tee!

bha said...

gharge...ekdam khamag ase distatet...:) happy new year

Padmaja said...

I haven't cooked as yet in this new year dear. YOu have started with an amazing dish!!! Love those Gharge!!

FH said...

Happy new year Tee, see you later. Gharges looks yummy!:))

Richa said...

hey, gharge look so good, yummmm :)
me tuzhi rcp try karnar ahey, last time mazhey gharge jara hard zhaley hotey. Happy New Year!

Lata said...

This reminded me of Gharge made by my friend's mom but with Bottle Gourd. Good one...

Happy New Year!

Rina said...

This is a unique one Tee.. Should give it a try. Happy New Year!!!!!

Pooja V said...

Happy New year Tee ! I cannot forget how these just melt-in-the-mouth texture. N u havnt missed nething frm my blog. And btw we have both started our blogs with "assal" maharashtrian dishes.

TBC said...

New year wishes to you and your family, Tee.

Mansi said...

hey Tee! that looks so nice..a greta beginning to the new year indeed!

wish you a happy and healthy 2008 girl!

Manasi said...

Sweet begining indeed!!
Gharge mast distayt!!!!
Navin varsha cha hardik shubhecha!!!

KellytheCulinarian said...

What a tasty snack, I love pumpkin.

priyah said...

lovely recipe..will definitely try this...

Laavanya said...

Wow. that looks lovely. Thanks for this unique recipe Tee. Happy New year to you too!

Shah cooks said...

A very sweet beginning to the year!!

Mansi said...

Though I'm a bit late in commenting, its a sweet beginning indeed:) we made these kind of puris with just wheat flour and jaggery....

hope to see more of your posts this year girl!:)

Viji said...

Something new idea for me Tee. Nice. Viji

Green Mirchi said...

Hi Tee, I am avid reader of your blog and really enjoy it. just wanted to drop a note saying I tried your bharli vangi recipe and it was a big hit. Keep those recipes coming and good luck with your new job.

Dee said...

i really like this idea.... i like pumpkin, but know a very few recipes pertaining to it... i really like to give this a try.. i have already bookmarked it...

priyah said...

oh this is new to me...nice...

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Unknown said...

tee, your recipe looks good. have tried to make these before but, they have always turned out 'hard'. I guess the rawa and atta ratio is the key. Am going to try them this weekend.

Deepa Kuber said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deepa Kuber said...

wow!! step by step presentation of the dish.. hardly u get to see!! gud job

Mukta said...

Why no posts recently?
Love all the recipes posted by you...

Anonymous said...

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Impressora e Multifuncional, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://impressora-multifuncional.blogspot.com. A hug.

Priyanka said...

Tee where r u? hope everything is fine at your end.

Dee said...

Hey where are u tee, dont see u around.. hope all is well and your job is going great!

Unknown said...

hi tee what is ur name.
I loved your blog i tried many recipies also.
I simply want to thank you because U have very nice posts and plus visual i.e. pics of items ...
I really appriciate it
give me ur mail address
mine is hi2shraddha@rediffmail.com

Suganya said...

Knock, knock, somebody there?

TheCooker said...

So good you see your comment on my blog.
Where have you been?

FH said...

Hi Tee, howdy? You haven't posted anything since Jan? Enjoy, I know it's hard to blog sometimes with all the stuff going around us. Take your time!:)

Unknown said...

Hi, I went through your blog, boy, reminded me of my childhood memories, not to mention, the way you described things means word & all, made me nostalgic. Keep writing, I felt I am back to Amchi Mumbai

Vaidehi Bhave said...

Hi,

Nice blog and I nice recipe of gharge. I make gharge a bit differently. Do see my recipe Gharge

Thanks,
Chakali

Komal Pitre said...

i really didn't think i wud find this recipe on the net... great guns!!! my husband loves gharge and i am sure to make him happy today !!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Suddenly I miss home!! fantastic!! thank you so much for taking me back home. I love gharge.

Unknown said...

Just the way I remember...fantastic gharge...thank you so much for reviving this wonderful recipe...