Chirote (चिरोटे)

CHIROTE (चिरोटे )

Chirote is a sweet flaky pastry made in a glaze or confectioners sugar. Traditionally chirote is an important part of almost all Maharashtrian wedding. They are prepared during Diwali to mark the festival. I bet no one can eat just one.

Ingredients :

For dough : 3/4th cup All purpose flour (Maida) , 3/4th cup Sooji ,

2 pinch salt , 1/2 cup room temperature milk ,

Food color : Green and red.

2 tbspn ghee , 1 tbspn arrowroot or corn starch.

Oil to fry.

For sugar glaze : 1 cup sugar , 3/4th cup water , 1/4th tspn cardamom powder

For dry Chirote : 1 cup Powdered sugar , 1/4th tspn cardamom powder.

Procedure :

Mix all purpose flour , salt , milk sooji and knead a dough. Divide the dough in 3 equal parts. Mix green food color in 1 part , red in the other and let the third part of the dough be white. Roll out all three parts separately to equal sized rounds.

Mix the ghee and arrowroot/corn starch ensuring no lumps exist.Lay the red part of the rolled out dough on a flat surface. Apply very little ghee mixture throughout the red surface evenly on one side. Stack the white rolled dough over the red one. Apply the ghee mixture on the white surface and then stack the third green rolled dough over the white and apply the mixture again.

Start folding about 1.5 inches dough from two sides across as shown in the picture. Fold the close end away from you and the far end towards you alternatively till both sides meet and stack on one other.

Fold the close end away from you and the far end towards you alternatively till both sides meet and stack on one other.

Use a knife to cut the long roll of dough into 1/2 inch pieces as shown in the picture.

Place the dough cut side down and roll out the dough pieces to small rounds. Heat oil in a frying pan just enough to fry one chirota at a time. Fry the rolled chirota . Notice the colored swirls blossom like a flower . Place it on a cooling rack.

For glazed chirota make a sugar syrup and add cardamom powder. Place the fried Chirota in the syrup and slather the syrup all over the chirota . Place it in a serving plate.

For dry chirota drop the fried chirota in the powdered sugar + cardamom powder mixture. Sprinkle the powdered sugar in all the nooks and crannies of the Chirota. Dust away the excess sugar and the chirotas are ready to serve.

Enjoy any one of the two methods to sweeten the chirota according to your convenience and taste.