By Nandini Bhushan*
From Vat Savitri to Chhath Puja, and from humble litti chokha to the traditional dal pitha, Bihar is blessed with all the flavour and spirit of pomp and splendor. Eddie Kennyson rightly said, “when opportunity presents itself, don’t be afraid to go after it.” In these columns I shall not only be telling something about my native state Bihar through the window of its festival and food, but shall also offer the recipe so that one can try it oneself.
Bihari cuisine, I believe deserves its long overdue credit, as it is one of the most unexplored and under rated food today despite being full of flavours and among the most palatable cuisines. In today’s world of marketing and flamboyance, we seriously need a makeover of the sumptuous Bihari food to find its rightful niche in the gastronomical world. We need to present our recipe to the global audience, and being a food enthusiast myself, it is my humble attempt to present a traditional Bihari food with an interesting variation.
Also try: Make Yourself Bihari Food Part – 26: Khaja
Anarsa
Bihar offers a number of mouth watering sweet delicacies and anarsa indeed is a jewel in the crown. its melt in mouth texture with the explosion of bursting flavours deserves more appreciation for its unique taste and flavours. It is associated with the festival of lights and is prepared during the special occasions. Made from rice flour, jaggery, khoya along with sesame coating from outside that gives the nutty flavour to the anarsa. Anarsa is found in both disc and spherical shape and Gaya in Bihar is immensely popular for this festive sweet.
Lets enjoy the anarsa with the gleam of auspicious diyas and wishing everyone a very happy diwali.
Ingredients
Rice flour : 1 cup
Powdered jaggery : ½ cup
Khoya : 100 gms
Mixed dry fruits : 2 tsp
Cardamom powder : ½ tsp
Sesame seed : 2 to 3 tsp
Oil or ghee for frying
Step 1
To make the rice atta, soak the rice in water for three consecutive days and each day change the water and soak in the fresh one. After three days drain the water and spread the rice in a cotton cloth and dry in a shady place.
Step 2
Once it completely dries up grind it into fine powder. Once done add the powdered jaggery along with two tsp ghee and mix them well.
Step 3
In a bowl add the anarsa flour and gradually add lukewarm water to knead a soft dough. Next make small balls from it.
Step 4
In the meantime make stuffing with khoya, dry fruits and cinnamon powder.
Step 5
Fill the balls with the khoya mixture and shape them into a disc. Finally roll the disc over the sesame seed.
Step 6
Deep fry the anarsa on medium flame until they are crisp and golden brown.
*Nandini Bhushan is a well-known food blogger
