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…
That looks so yum! I am feeling hungry right now after looking at all the pictures. And if I was in your place, I think I would do the same!
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Heheheh….Do go and enjoy some of the chaat yourself, Reema! ❤
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Everything looks completely delicious, making my mouth water wildly. If only there was some way to pull the food out of the computer…
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I know how you feel, Alice! Each time I see those gorgeous food pictures on Instagram, I feel the same way! 🙂
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Yes I get what you say .Ideally I would want both next to me.Sweet and salty alternately.
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Me too, Amrita! Sweet and savoury, by turns! 🙂
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Shilpa are you taking the place of the devil? These photos not only made my mouth water but I actually had to stop myself for heading down to the nearest chat wallah!
Your kanavley look fabulous even though you claim your contribution was nominal. And I too would have eaten out ! Thanks for sharing these lovely food memories on #FlavoursomeTuesday. I’m sure we’ll get this Linky party going after Diwali.
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Yes, Sunita….we so need to get it going…I am so loving it – writing about food, reminiscing about those moments when I ate stuff I so love!
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Wow, your pictures and description actually made me hungry. I enjoy chaat a lot but the cheese toast looked tempting. The mithai is a lot of hard work. Happy Diwali!
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Yeah, Inderpreet..mithai making can take a lot of your energy. So, to get back that lost energy, you head towards the nearest chaat centre! 😛
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These images bought back so many memories of Pune from a year ago… it was my first proper foray into street foods, chaats, dabelis and yes, even the kind of cheese sandwiches we got there which so generously scraped cheese on top.
Miss those days. Haven’t had that experience since leaving Maharashtra.
Godyears.net
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Then you ought to plan a trip here sometime, Roshan! Relive those golden memories!
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Fun? Yes provided one has a chaat stall close by as all these images makes me crave for golgappas and SPDP!! The Kanavley show all the effort thats gone into making them.. 🙂
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True, Archana…a chaat stall has to be nearby if we are to indulge our sweet tooth!
Thank you for visiting! 🙂
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