SAJJAPPA (Speciality food)

**Author - Alee Venkatesh **




My Mother's recipe


SAJJAPPA (deep fried Sweet delight from my home town in Bangalore, Karnataka state in India)  speciality food which my mother use to prepare during Deepavali (Festival of Lights) Anantha Padmanabha Vrata (traditional pooja to Lord Maha Vishnu).  This is also prepared during yearly death ceremonies in most of the Hindu families.  This used to be my father's favourite sweet dish (& mine too) and my mother used to make this for us when ever we felt like eating it.   I learnt preparing this  from my mother and here is my recipe for you to experiment in the comfort of your kitchen.


INGREDIENTS & METHOD

FOR MAKING SOFT DOUGH
  • 1/2 cup plain flour (wheat flour works out well too) 
  • 1/4 cup lightly roasted fine semolina (chiroti rava) 
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder (optional)
  • 2 tsp. ghee (clarified Indian butter)
  • Oil for deep frying
In a large mixing bowl, add all the dough ingredients (except oil for frying), prepare smooth dough using little water.  Let it rest for 30 mins.

FOR FILLING
  • 1/2 cup roasted fine semolina
  • 1 1/2 cup grated coconut (fresh, frozen and dry can be used)
  • 1 tsp. each of gasagase (white poppy seeds) & cardamom powder
  • 1 cup jaggery (palm sugar) more or less to your taste 
In a pan, fry semolina & grated coconut until golden brown, remove from heat and allow it to cool.  In a separate pan, heat little water and melt jaggery.  To this add fried semolina & coconut mixture, cardamom powder & poppy seeds - fry until water is evaporated
HOW TO PROCEED
  
From the dough, pull out lemon sized balls, roll into round shapes, add a spoonful of filling, close all sides, press and roll it again to form a flat circle. Heat oil, deep fry (on low flame) on both sides until golden brown. Remove from heat, drain any excess oil and serve;  when cool store in an air tight container (stays fresh for up to 3 days).