norwegian cooking: Vatalya Daliche Ladoo…a traditional and authentic delicacy from Maharashtra

Vatalya Daliche Ladoo…a traditional and authentic delicacy from Maharashtra

Wish you all a “Shubha Deepawali”.

This Diwali I wanted to attempt a dish which is traditional, very authentic and extremely close to my heart. This is a dish which my granny used to make especially for me whenever she used to visit us.I would always demand her to make them without realising how much effort it needs! Today she is old and does not keep too well, else she would be the one making it and I would be happily enjoying eating them. This recipe I dedicate to my Granny whom we fondly call ‘Akka’. Happy Diwali Akka.

Talking about my granny, she is an excellent cook. I have still not seen and tasted someone cooking better than her. She could cook for 100 guests very ‘Aaram Se’. She would make Jalebis, Kachori, Samosa, Chirote everything at home and in large quantities. She even started making Chavanprash at home and send it to all grand children. So in our childhood we always ate home made Chavanprash, I know that sounds exotic… One should only demand something, and she was ready to make it. She could make rotis of 5-6 kg of flour with great ease (I will not even dare to try that). I remember in summer vacations when we visited her I would help her make Kurdayi, Papad, Potato chips etc….and if it was Diwali she will make Anarsa, Puran Poli and lots of faraal (snacks) for all of us. She is not only an excellent cook but a woman of great determination. I salute her physical as well as mental strength.These are few fond memories of my granny, which I will cherish through out my life…

Talking about today’s recipe, as I said this is a personal favorite of mine and when I made it and gave a bit of it to S for taste…. I should have clicked his expression, like a child with his eyes widened and a big smile on his face he said ‘this is so nice’. I am glad he liked it and I can only ask my friends to attempt making this and relish my personal favorite.

One should have sufficient time and patience to attempt this recipe as it not only demands time but a lot of muscular power. This needs roasting the ground legume (Vaatali Dal) in clarified butter on a low flame till it is golden brown in color. This entire process takes quite some time and one has to continuously turn it so that it does not stick to the base. The initial phase is more strenuous, as the legume gets roasted, the water evaporates and paste becomes lighter it’s easy to be turned. One should have a day’s time to make this.

So here we go ….

Ingredients

4 vati/katori bengal gram lentils/ chana dal

3 1/2 katori sugar

1 Katori milk

few strands of saffron

15 cardamoms seeds ground to a powder

a handful of cashew nuts, almonds, raisins

Method

Soak the dal for 4-5 hours.

Grind the dal/legume with minimum water to a grainy texture (ravaal).

Heat about 2 katori clarified butter/ghee in a flat base pan and put the dal paste in it and roast on low flame till nicely golden brown in color (takes about 2 hrs). Using a flat pan ensures that the heat spreads evenly. If one finds difficulty in roasting, add extra amount of clarified butter and then roast, this will make it easy. When the legume gets completely roasted the ghee/clarified butter would separate, which can then be removed. One can smell the aroma too, when it’s done.

In a separate container take the sugar and add 2 katori water. Boil it to make a syrup of little more than 2 strand consistency & add the saffron.To check this take a drop of the syrup in a plate & press it between the two fingers. If two or more sugar strands are made, you got the right consistency.

Now remove half the syrup into a separate container. To the remaining half add a katori of milk, the cardamom powder, the nuts and raisins and mix.

Add the roasted paste , this will absorb the sugar syrup. Gradually add the remaining half syrup and keep mixing till it absorbs (It may require the full syrup or a little less, this depends on the quality of legume). Keep the mixture like this for 4-5 hrs, till it completely absorbs the sugar syrup. After that roll small quantities of the mixture in your palms to make laddoos (lemon sized balls).