Sunday was a busy day spent preparing Karanji for Diwali. The Karanji we prepare is called Kanavley –  a speciality of the Kayastha community (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu). The hubby is a CKP, therefore the Kanavley, is a must-do for Diwali sweets. And, the process of preparing this speciality is, well, quite an intimidating one for this Brahmin girl who married the CKP guy!

Thankfully, I have  a very sweet sis-in-law, who is an expert at preparing the Kanavley, so, it was she who did the major part of preparing the dough and the fillings, and then filling the kanavley with it  – all of which needs deft fingers and a hell of a lot of patience! I just did the frying part, although, one should be careful not to overdo it. For, it is not just the taste of the Kanavley that is of importance, but also the colour – which should be  virgin white, or maybe a liiittle bit golden brown, but not more than that!

And, this entire procedure of preparing the main Diwali mithai  takes an entire day, which includes cleaning up the greasy kitchen counter and the utensils, which is a headache after you have spent an entire day on your feet slogging to get the beauties ready!

Phew! So, at the end of such a tiring day, where you are also surrounded with everything sugary, all you want to do is get out of the house, and go have something spicy/savoury for dinner, even if that includes snacks. Actually, I prefer snacks…and in that, I prefer the all-time favourite chaat. So, off we went to give our taste buds a change of scene. Sadly, there was quite a rush at the chaat wala, so we decided to have some veg cheese toast…mmmmmm…..and then head for the chaat centre.

The cheese toast is to-die-for, but of course! I mean, just look at all that cheese! I can have it everyday! I start drooling the moment the sandwich-guy begins laying down the bread slices to apply the chutney and  place the veggies on them! My patience goes for a toss when they don’t come out of the toaster soon. And, when the guy begins grating cheese all over the now-toasted sandwich, I look at it like a hungry dog staring at a juicy bone!

Gawd! Just writing about it is making me hunger for it, all over again! Anyway, so, after having the cheesy treat, we headed to the chaat wala, which was quite deserted by then. Heading straight to the pani-puri counter, I had my fill of the extra-spicy pani-puri –  less meetha chutney, more teekha chutney, and steaming hot ragda.  I wonder why the chaat outdoors fills up the tummy so quickly, and the one we prepare at home takes ages to satisfy our hunger! I had just one plate of puris and I felt satiated, but how could I let go of the sookha puri the chaat wala bhaiya hands out at the end? Stuffed with mashed potato and sev, this little thing is simply magical, isn’t it?

I could have had an entire plate of that sookha puri, but stopped myself from acting like an idiot! Yes, I am sharing the pictures to tantalize your taste buds, so that you go indulge those poor things!  And, yes, I am sharing just one picture each of the pani-puri and the sookha puri – I am quite miserly when it comes to sharing my favourite things! Hehe…

So, what do you like to eat if you have spent an entire day preparing sweets for the festival? Do share with me here, in the comments, or with a  blog post using the hashtag #flavoursometuesdays, and let’s talk food!

It’s fun, isn’t it?

Love,

SHILPA…