Anarsa
Encyclopedia
Anarsa is a pastry like snack commonly associated with the Hindu
festival of Diwali
in Central & Northern India. Its ingredients include jaggery
(unrefined cane sugar), rice
, poppy seed
and ghee
(clarified butter).
Recipe :
Anarsas are made from soaked powdered rice, jaggery or sugar. First the rice is soaked in water for 3 days - the water needs to be changed every day to keep any fermentation to minimum. After this, the rice needs to be dried slightly leaving it slight moist. The moist rice is then ground into a fine powder - the powder retains the moisture so even though it is powdery in consistency, when pressed together hard in your fist, it tends to retain a shape. This is known as the Pithi. After this the Pithi is mixed sugar of amount equal to that of the dried rice used to make pithi. Mix the two together properly and then with your hands, prepare cricket-ball sized dough-balls of this mix. The moisture in the rice ensures the balls retain shape. This mix can be stored for a long time at room temperature as long as it is sealed in an airtight container to prevent the moisture from soaking the sugar further. Whenever Anarsas are to be prepared, mash half inch piece of banana and mix into the previously prepared dough-balls. The banana ensures the sugar dissolves so be careful not to mix too much of banana. The resultant dough should be very soft yet retain shape. Small flat discs with about 2 inches in diameter are created by flattening a small ball of the dough over a layer of poppy seeds - just on one side. These disks are fried with poppy coated side first into hot ghee.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
festival of Diwali
Diwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
in Central & Northern India. Its ingredients include jaggery
Jaggery
Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color...
(unrefined cane sugar), rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, poppy seed
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
and ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
(clarified butter).
Recipe :
Anarsas are made from soaked powdered rice, jaggery or sugar. First the rice is soaked in water for 3 days - the water needs to be changed every day to keep any fermentation to minimum. After this, the rice needs to be dried slightly leaving it slight moist. The moist rice is then ground into a fine powder - the powder retains the moisture so even though it is powdery in consistency, when pressed together hard in your fist, it tends to retain a shape. This is known as the Pithi. After this the Pithi is mixed sugar of amount equal to that of the dried rice used to make pithi. Mix the two together properly and then with your hands, prepare cricket-ball sized dough-balls of this mix. The moisture in the rice ensures the balls retain shape. This mix can be stored for a long time at room temperature as long as it is sealed in an airtight container to prevent the moisture from soaking the sugar further. Whenever Anarsas are to be prepared, mash half inch piece of banana and mix into the previously prepared dough-balls. The banana ensures the sugar dissolves so be careful not to mix too much of banana. The resultant dough should be very soft yet retain shape. Small flat discs with about 2 inches in diameter are created by flattening a small ball of the dough over a layer of poppy seeds - just on one side. These disks are fried with poppy coated side first into hot ghee.