Chuda Ghasa for Ganesh Pooja

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Chuda Ghasa (or Ground Flattened Rice) is famous and widely used in Odisha as prasad for Ganesh Pooja (and Saraswati pooja)..especially in the bigger pooja pandals..  the basic recipe is simple.. and it can be beautified with a variety of ingredients depending on your taste and palate... Here goes a very simple version of Chuda Ghasa.. that I made for Ganesh Pooja day 2.


What I used...

  • 2 cups of chuda/poha/flattened rice
  • 2 table spoons of desi ghee
  • 1 table spoon tightly packed jaggery powder (more if you like more sweet)
  • 1 tea spoon of black pepper powder
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen-thawed)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped apples (more if you love fruits)
  • Fistful raisins
  • Grapes for decorating (and eating of course..)
Process
  • Dry roast chuda/poha in a open pan till crispy.. in US, we get poha which is not so fresh. so dry roasting helped me bring back the crisp taste of chuda.. 
  • Let it cool a bit. while still warm.. grind it into a coarse powder.. I have a chopper/grinder in which it took like 10 whirrs or so... like 30 seconds.. or even less.. 
  • Remove on to a big plate.. as big as you can get.. because what happens next needs space..
  • Add the jaggery powder + ghee on top of the chuda powder.. 
  • Working with your palms... crush chuda + ghee + jaggery.. in a circular or symmetric motion..just like you crush kassori methi before adding into any curry.. same way.. 
  • Work with smaller amounts.. whatever fits in your palms.. this takes a little time.. so working with warm chuda really helps.. this process is called "Ghasa" (literally means Massage)
  • The ghee + jaggery should mix so well.. that you can only smell it.. you can't see it.. like at all..
  • The white chuda will become little brown.. due to the jaggery of course.. and the crispiness of the chuda will remain intact.. 
  • Pour the mixture onto a bigger bowl.. 
  • Add all other ingredients.. except of the grapes.. In Cuttack, the grapes are added to the Chuda Ghasa itself.. and then the crisp chuda ghasa is served in small "donas"(bowls made of banyan tree leaves). AWESOMENESS !!
This is what I offered to Lord Ganesh on Day -2 of Ganesh Pooja 2014.. 


In some parts of Odisha.. its served with Dalma.. Dalma recipe is here. It acts as a perfect B'Fast too.. with Dalma it becomes more like a meal.. 

Hope you try this unique recipe from Odisha.. and enjoy making it and eating.. Enjoy !!

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 6, 2014 at 5:19 AM

    Hey Nice to see u blogging after a long time.. I am going to try this out for sure...and link back to your post..

    ReplyDelete

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