The summer is here.
Heat, dust, thirst, sweat....
Yes. But look at the brighter side.
Juices, ice creams, milk shakes, grapes, oranges, watermelon...
But of course Mango.
And the most interesting event happening during the summer is the making of Sandige.
The preparation, the purchases, the making and the eating... Every part of Sandige can be most rewarding and entertaining.
I always cherish and enjoy the making of Sandige, right from my childhood when Amma used to make Sandige with her friends to now when I make with my sisters and children would be eagerly waiting to eat the Sandige at every stage.
Eating the fresh hot Sandige hittu to picking the half dry sandiges to finally relishing the fried Sandige...
The making of Aralu Sandige used to be an yearly ritual, stretching upto a month because of the cleaning of the Aralu involved. Weekdays being busy with office work and the children with their exams, it used to be only during the weekends and also when the summer holidays started that the activity was gaining the momentum.
Not just my children, my husband used to drag my niece and also the friends of my children to clean the aralu.
But fortunately now we get the cleaned Aralu for a little extra in Rama traders in Gandhi Bazaar which is a big relief.
Check the recipes of some of our delicious snacks :
So here goes the recipe :
The quantity I have mentioned here is enough for a family of four to last for almost an year if you use them sparingly.
Ingredients :
- Aralu 20 liter
- Sabbakki - sago 1 kg. Adjust this according to your liking.
- Finely chopped onion 3 kg.
- ( You can use other vegetables like ash gourd , potato or even do plain Sandige, but my personal preference is onion)
- Coarsely ground green chillies 1/2 kg.
- Asafoetida. 1 tablespoon
- Groundnut oil 1 cup
- Salt to taste.
Procedure :
- Wash and soak the sago/sabbakki overnight. The ratio of water to sago is 1:3 i.e for 1 cup of sago fill in 3 cups of water. You still need to add water while cooking the sabbakki in the morning.
- In the morning apply a layer of groundnut oil in a thick bottomed kadai. This is to avoid burning of the sago while cooking.
- Heat the water in the kadai.
- While the water starts to boil, lower the heat and add the overnight soaked sago. If the quality is more for one kadai, you can split it into two kadais.
- Mix the sago in the kadai and keep stirring at regular intervals.
- When it starts boiling, add the salt, asafoetida and the coarsely ground chillies.
- Keep stirring continuously and adjust the water if required.
- When the sago cooks and thickens, switch off the gas and let it cool.
- The consistency should be such that when it turns cold, the consistency should be thick yet flowing like dosa batter.
- I use a plastic bowl with holes as shown in the picture to wash my Aralu so that it doesn't get over soaked.
- Spread the thick plastic sheet on the terrace.
- In a big bowl add a few ladles of sago mix, 2 cups of finely chopped onion and salt and mix thoroughly.
- Now take a bowl full of aralu and hold it below the running water of a tap.
- Once the top layer is wet, close the tap and shake in such a way that the aralu at the bottom comes to the top.
- Again hold the aralu under the tap and see that all the aralu are wet.
- Shake well so that all the water is drained.
- Now put this aralu into the mixture of sago and onion prepared earlier.
- Next mix gently so that the aralu don't break.
- Check the taste and see that the salt and the chillies are perfect. Add either if required.
- Now take a little mixture in your hand, and lightly shape it round without pressing it hard and place it on the plastic sheet. Keep doing like this for all the mixture you have prepared and then mix the next round.
- In the evening the sandiges are to be reversed, kept upside down.
- Next day if you want, you can shift the sandiges to steel plates or let it dry on the plastic sheet only.
- After drying them crisp for about 2-3 days, keep the sandiges in an airtight container.
