Gur Anarsa (Jaggery and Rice based sweet popular in Bihar)

This recipe is my entry to the event "Shhh!!! Cooking Secretly" challenge conducted by Mayuri Patel of Mayuri's Jikoni.  For the month of December, I have paired with Shobana Vijay of "shobasdelight" and the ingredients given by her are Rice flour and Jaggery.

We planned to try Bihari cuisine with the given ingredient.   As I am from southern part of India; I am excited to know more about the cuisine of Bihar (a state in eastern India, bordering Nepal)

When I browsed for the Gur Anarsa recipe, I understood that, it resembles Tamilnadu's traditional recipe "adhirasam" in taste, though the preparation and outcome of this dish is different. 

Gur Anarsa is a traditional and lip smacking sweet dish of Bihari cuisine. It is usually prepared during festival days like Holi, Diwali and on other special occasions.

In this, Rice flour and jaggery (Gur in Hindi) are combined together to form a dough that is coated with sesame seeds; fried till it gets golden colour.

PREP TIME

15 min

COOK TIME

10

TOTAL TIME 

25 min

                                                                                                                                                  

Recipe for Gur Anarsa   

Recipe type: Sweet

Cuisine: Bihari Cuisine (Indian)

Yields: 8 to 10 pieces

Ingredients:
Rice flour - 1 cup
(Follow the method given below to prepare rice flour )
Jaggery - ½ cup (grated)
Sesame seeds - 2 to 3 tbsp
Ghee - 1 to 2  tsp
Ghee - for deep frying

Directions:
How to prepare rice flour for anarsa Preparation:

Wash the raw rice thoroughly to get rid of any dirt and stones.   Soak it for 3 days ; by changing the water daily. 

Drain completely; spread it as a thin layer in a newspaper / cotton cloth and allow to dry in shade for 20 to 30 minutes or till it's almost dry yet slightly moist. 

Add the rice in mixer and grind it to fine powder (do it in batches).

Sieve to get fine powder and collect the remaining millet rava (coarse texture) in the sieve; add it to the next batch while grinding.  Continue the process.

Now your rice flour is ready to use.

Measure 1 cup of  rice flour and add 1/2 to 3/4 cup grated jaggery.   Start mixing; add ghee  and knead to form a soft dough.(it will take nearly 5 to 6 minutes)

Cover and rest this dough in room temperature for 24 hours to get soft anarsa.

Heat ghee / oil in a wok.  Mean while, divide the dough into balls.  Flatten it and coat with sesame seeds.  Similarly prepare the remaining balls.

Deep fry the anarsa in low  flame.  Do not flip in between.  Remove and drain the excess oil and serve hot.

Traditional and easy to make Anarsa is ready to serve.