Come Diwali and I have a lot of
lovely memories of delicious sweets and savories being made not only in my home
but also my neighbor’s homes. I remember
my mom used to tell me I used to hop around all homes (having been brought up
in a typical Bombay chawl – where the doors used to close only during the night
time). There was free flow of people
walking into each other’s homes and checking out what was cooking or made. Difficult to imagine if I could now relive
that moment again. Not quite sure on
that!.
One such sweet that I really used
to look forward to eating was at one of my Maharashtrian friend’s home and that
was Karanji. I loved the shape and the
ease at which Mangodkar maavshi used to make these. I sat at her place (never ever bothering if
my friend Poornima was around)- I danced to the kitchen and saw how maavshi
made the filling for the karanji. Also remembering,
that my mom made laddoos both of rava and pulses, then mysorepak and coconut
barfi. But never ventured to try this
lovely delicacy.
Maavshi told me that this is a
pure Maharashtrian sweet and that’s the reason amma did not make it. Anyways, I wasn’t much bothered as I knew she
would definitely send a good amount home.
I remember me telling her that I love karanjis. Sweet as she was, she said “Ho
ga, mee tujha ghari pathavnaar. Tension gheu
nako”). Yes, one major hurdle
was covered. Surely, these sweet
dumplings are going to land in my home.
I gazed at the ease at which she
mixed the filling for the karanjis. It was
rava, coconut, jiggery, kismis and few dryfruits along with cardamom powder. They
looked just so beautiful on the big plate that she had laid down and side by
side made the covering of the Karanjis with maida. The covering just romanced the filling so
beautifully and it’s a visual delight to see the outer design (interwoven with
such dexterity). But that’s not all,
these lovely dumplings now had to be fried using some precision so that they do
not splutter out, lest the filling would spill out spoiling the entire dish.
Even now, I can visualize the
tensed brows of maushi till she fried these. It seemed to me like a T20 match between
INDIA and PAKISTAN, with just one over left and 6 runs needed. In fact, much more tension filled than
those. The karanjis were waiting to get
karanjified, there they went into the oil and guess what, it didn’t splutter. The child that I was, I screamed in happiness
as if those were fried by me. The scene
was anywhere like INDIA winning against PAKISTAN, the joy and happiness
incomparable. Maavshi, let out a sigh of
relief, yes, the filling was intact and the karnjis were golden brown just so
perfect. AND I WAS HAPPY!!!! She
immediately offered it to Padurang (an idol on their Devsthal) and then called
out to me “AATA KHAAON BAGH” (not you can eat these).
With a patient waiting of more
than two hours or more, atlast she offered me the lovely karanjis, and sabar
ka phal meetha hota hai, sorry Karanji hota hai. So yes, I was karanjified and I loved it.
I still love these and everytime someone
offers me a karanji, it takes me back to those lovely days and lucky as I have
always been, I always get to have a bite of these.
Love
Rekha
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