Sonali Bhogle
An anarsa is an Indian Pastry-like snack commonly associated with the Hindu festival of Diwali in Bihar and Maharashtra. Its ingredients include jaggery (unrefined cane sugar), rice, poppy seeds and ghee (clarified butter). Anarsas are made from soaked powdered rice, jaggery or sugar.
 
 


To Make the dough

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup rice
  • 3/4 cup jaggery (finely grated)
  • Water

Method:
Wash rice two to three times. Soak it in the water for three days. Change water everyday.After three days, drain water completely. Put the rice in colander to drain any remaining water. Leave if for about 10-15 minutes.Spread a clean cotton cloth on a plain surface, and spread rice on it evenly. The cloth will absorb remaining water.Take half cup of rice in a mixie at a time, and grind it to fine powder. Repeat this for remaining rice.Sieve this to get fine powder.In a bowl, mix rice powder and grated jaggery. Mix it well to form a nice mixture of rice powder and jaggery. Knead well to make a dough. If you are not able to make the dough right away, just store the mixture in a container at room temperature.Keep it for 3 to 4 days. In cold weather it may take more days to get the dough as desired.Once the dough is ready, you can store it in the refrigerator for 6 months or so.



To Make & Fry Anarsa

Ingredients:
  • Ghee
  • Poppy seeds ( Khaskhas )
  • The dough

Method:
Take some dough and let it come to room temperature.Knead it with some ghee. If it's too dry mashed banana.
 
Make about 1 inch balls of the dough. Take poppy seeds on a flat surface.Put one ball in the poppy seeds. Apply some ghee on your finger tips, and flatten the dough to form a circular disk of anarsa. The anarsa should be about 3-5 mm thick depending on how crispy you want it.


Heat a kadai on medium heat, and add some ghee. The amount of ghee should be such that the top of anarsa is not covered it. Now put in the anarsa with the poppy seeds on top.

With a spoon, sprinkle ghee over anarsa from all sides. Make sure it's done in the center.

All this needs to be done quickly without letting the anarsa burn. Remove the anarsa from ghee and serve crispy anarsa when cool.




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