Wondering What to Serve Your Guests This Diwali? Try These Easy Snacks Recipes By Sanjeev Kapoor

New Delhi, October 11, 2017 : Traditional sweets and snacks are of the essence when it comes to Diwali and the celebrations are simply incomplete without home-cooked food. This time celebrate the festival by indulging in some sweet as well as tangy treats.

If you have even the slightest interest in culinary arts, you would have heard the name of India's culinary expert, chef Sanjeev Kapoor! His recipes are not just easy to make, but also come handy to treat all your guests to the best food ever!

Here are some easy snacks recipes by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

1. Bhajanee chakli

Ingredients :

• 2 tablespoons Nutralite
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• Oil for deep-frying
• Bhajanee flour
• 4 cups rice
• 1 cup skinless split black gram (urad dal)

How to make Bhajanee chakli :

• For the bhajanee flour, dry-roast the rice and black gram separately. Cool completely and grind separately to a powder. Sift both the flours and mix.
• Put bhajanee flour in a bowl. Add Nutralite, salt, cumin powder and chilli powder, and mix well. Divide the mixture in half. Take one half and knead into a soft dough with ½ cup water. When the dough is used up, make a dough of the remaining flour.
• Put small portions of the mixture into a chakli mould and press out several chakli onto a plastic sheet. Heat sufficient oil in a non-stick kadai till moderately hot.
• Deep-fry the chakli till light golden brown and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside to cool. Store in an airtight container.

ALSO READ Diwali Sweet Dish: Now Make Desserts for Diwali in Less Than 10 Minutes

2. Methi mathri

Ingredients :

• 2 cups refined flour (maida)
• Salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
• 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
• 5 tablespoons Nutralite
• Oil for deep-frying

Mathri infused with kasoori methi. Wikimedia

How to make methi mathri :

• Take flour in a bowl, add salt, carom seeds and dried fenugreek leaves and mix well.
• Add Nutralite and mix well. Add sufficient chilled water and knead into a hard dough. Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes.
• Divide into 24 equal balls and flatten them slightly. Roll them out thinly into small puris and fold in half and then fold again to make a triangle. Stick a clove at one corner making it appear like a paan. Lightly prick them with a fork so that the mathris do not rise like puris.
• Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.
• Slide in the mathris and deep-fry on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper and cool completely. Serve or store in air tight tins.

3. Chocolate and nut karanji

Ingredients :

• 1½ cups refined flour (maida)
• 3 tablespoons pure ghee
• Oil for deep-frying
• Stuffing
• ½ cup grated dark chocolate
• ¼ cup chopped almonds
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup grated mawa/khoya
• 2 tablespoons Sugar Free

Method of preparation:

• Put the flour in a deep bowl. Add ghee and add 2-3 tablespoons of chilled water or chilled milk. Knead into a medium-soft dough, adding more chilled water or milk as you go along. Divide into small balls and let them rest, covered with a damp cloth.
• To make the stuffing, mix the khoya/mawa, Sugar Free, walnuts, almonds and chocolate in a bowl. Chill it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Roll out the dough balls into small round puri. Place a puri on the worktop; moisten its edges.
• Place some stuffing in the centre and fold one side of the puri over the other. Press the edges to seal and further twist the edges with your finger tips in a decorative manner. Or cut the edges with a serrated cutter. You can also make the karanji using a mould.
• Keep the karanji in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes.
• Heat sufficient oil in a kadai. Deep-fry the karanjis, a few at a time, till light brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot or allow them to cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container.

4. Banana halwa burfi

Ingredients:

• cup chopped ripe Nendrabale bananas
• 1 cup grated khoya/mawa
• ½ cup Sugar Free
• ½ cup coarsely ground cashew nuts
• Ghee for greasing
• ¼ cup milk

Method of preparation:

• Grease a straight-sided shallow tray with a little ghee. Heat a non-stick pan, add bananas and khoya/mawa and cook on medium heat, stirring at regular intervals to prevent the mixture from scorching.
• Cook till the ghee begins to ooze from the mixture. Add the Sugar Free and cashew nut powder, and mix. Continue to cook, stirring continuously, till the mixture turns a rich brown.
• Add milk and cook till it starts leaving the sides of the pan. Pour the mixture into the greased tray, level the surface and set aside to cool.
• Cut into desired shapes and serve.

In case you liked these recipes, dont forget to share your views with us. We would also like to hear how you modified these recipes to make something unique. Share your own recipes with us! (IANS)