Deepavali festivities are incomplete with out Kajjaya!! I have shared With all you lovely people this easy to make traditional recipe. Happy Deepavali/Diwali in advance!!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Raw Rice
- ¾ Cup Jaggery
- ½ Cup Water
- 2 Cardamom
- 1+ 1 table spoon Sesame Seeds
- Oil For Deep Frying
- 2 – 3 tsp Ghee
Method
- Rinse the raw rice well and soak it in cold water for 2 hours. Then, drain the water completely and spread the rice on a kitchen towel to drain the excess water. Leave it for 1 hour but check to make sure the rice is not completely dry, there should be little moisture left.(when you press your hand over the rice, it should stick).
- Now, transfer the rice to a mixer and pulse it to a coarse powder. Put the rice powder over a sieve and sift till you get a rava / sooji like texture.Also, you can grind the remaining rice particles in the next batch.
- To make Jaggery Syrup,First crush the jaggery and cardamom into coarse powder. To a pan, pour 1/2 cup of water and add the jaggery.
- Heat in medium flame, till the jaggery completely dissolves. When bubbles start to appear, simmer the flame and keep a bowl of water nearby. Once the jaggery syrup thickens a little, just take a bit of jaggery in your fingers and start to check the jaggery consistency by dropping it in the water. 1st stage – it dissolves in water, 2nd stage – not dissolve, you will be able to make a ball, it should be soft, jelly-like ball and slide from your fingers. Switch off the flame immediately.
- Strain the jaggery syrup and now add the rice flour very slowly in a sprinkled manner. Then add 2 to 3 tsp of ghee, one table spoon of sesame seeds and mix again.
- The dough looks soft, shiny and pliable now. Keep covered and set aside for 1 day. If making later, keep refrigerated, it stays good for 1 month. After 1 day, add 1 tsp of ghee and knead the dough again and make small key lime size balls. Take a plastic sheet, grease with a little ghee then place the rice dough ball Sprinkle some sesame seeds and gently flatten it making sure it’s not too thick or thin.
- Heat oil in a pan, add 1 or 2 Kajjaya’s at a time and Fry on a medium low flame. Once it puffs up, flip to the other side and fry till golden brown. Do the same with the remaining dough.
- Keep the fried Kajjaya over a tissue paper and press it gently with a spatuala or flat bowl to get the excess oil out.
Do try this authentic Kajjaya Recipe this Deepavali/Diwali and you will surely love it!!