The thing that I like most about summers is the bounty of colorful fruits that it offers. Not just mangoes but Jamuns, Litchis,peaches apricots, cherries, plums we have been savoring them all! The lad is a fresh fruit lover and loves snacking on them. The little lady of our house on the other hand is a mango addict but refuses to eat any other fruit. The only way to feed her fruits other than mangoes and bananas is to sneak them in shakes or smoothies.
The gorgeous weather (yes finally it’s raining here!) has increased the frequency of the kids’ hunger pangs. That also means my mind is constantly thinking of recipes to satiate the ever hungry kids with ‘different’ yet wholesome food. (I wonder how my mother managed when we were growing up?)
Litchis went into salads and Granitas when it was warmer. Peaches/apricots in crisps and parfaits.
Plums were a bit tricky to sneak in -since the boy loves tart fruits but no sweets for him. The daughter wont eat tart fruits but loved her sweets.
I had some leftover coconut milk from a Thai curry made earlier. On a whim I decided to make Sol Kadhi sans the Sol-The kokum. So you can call this ‘Plum Kadhi’ instead. The end result was as appetizing as the quintessential Maharashtrian favourite Sol Kadhi (have blogged about it here earlier).
The weather also demanded some piping hot snack. I chose to bake instead of deep fry another local favourite sweet- karanji with a plum twist. The plum Karanji. I chose to make a layered covering (also called as Satha/Sathyachya karanjya in Marathi) substituting half the quantity of a all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. The end result was a stunning (specially when cut), crisp karanji with an unsual sweet /sour taste- almost a cross between a karanji and a hand pie!
- For the covering
- ¾ cup All purpose flour
- ¾ cup Whole wheat flour
- 3 tsp fine semolina
- 4 tbsp ghee melted
- 2 tsp icing sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ~ ½ cup milk or enough to knead a tight dough
- For the filling
- 7-8 Crisp plums, pitted and chopped
- 3 tbsp scrapped fresh coconut
- 2 tbsp crushed/powdered cashewnuts
- ¼ tsp clove powder
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- ~ 6 tbsp powdered jaggery (or to taste)
- For layering
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 2 tbsp Cornflour
- Cinnamon sugar for dusting (optional)
- In a pan add the plum, coconut and jiggery. Cook on a low flame till the liquid evaporates (~ 4-5 minutes)
- Add the cashewnut powder and the spices.
- Mix well and cool completely.
- Whisk the ghee a few times till it becomes fluffy.
- Add cornflour and whisk again.
- For the Covering
- In the bowl of the food processor add all the covering ingredients except the milk. Pulse 1-2 times
- Add the milk slowly till a firm dough is formed.
- Cover and keep aside for half an hour.
- Halfway through the waiting time heat the oven to 180 deg C.
- After half hour, cut the dough into 4 equal parts.
- Form a ball of 1 part and roll out into a thin circular disc ~ 6 inch diameter
- Keep aside covered.
- Roll out the 2nd dough ball to a thin circular disc like a chapati.
- Spread about a tsp of the ghee cornflour mixture evenly on the rolled out dough.
- Cover this with the rolled out chapatti no 1.
- Repeat the with the 3rd and 4th dough ball. Total you have 4 rolled out chapatti like discs layered with the ghee-cornflour mixture.
- Put a tsp of the cornflour-ghee mixture on top of the 4th layer.
- Make a tight roll of the layered chapattis, like a Swiss roll.
- Trim both the edges and cut the rest of the roll into 6 pieces approximately 1 inch each.
- Cover the other cut pieces till you roll out and fill the first one
- With the cut side down roll out each piece into a circle like a poori
- Place 1 tsp of the cooled filling in the centre of the poori
- Cover one side of the poori with the other into a semicircle-karanji shape.
- Seal the ends using a fork or a fluted cutter
- Place on a greased baking tray and bake till golden in color (~ 15 mins)
- Serve hot
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- ~ 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 Plums pitted and chopped
- 1/4 tsp green chilli paste
- 1/4 tsp garlic paste
- to taste salt Black
- Cumin powder and coriander or mint leaves for garnishing
- Blend all the ingredients except the garnishing together.
- Chill and serve garnished with cumin powder/coriander/mint leaves.
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