“Jwari- Taikile Dangara (Jowar/ Sorghum- Cassia Taro Leaves/ Takla Fritters)” … these are delicious deep fried fritters, prepared with “Taikilo/ Takla/ Cassia Taro Leaves”, a leafy veggie available only during monsoon courtesy Mother Nature … I gave a twist to our own famous GSB Konkani Saraswat Taikile/ Takla Dangara recipe by replacing tur (tuvar/ pigeon peas) dal with whole jowar/ jwari/ sorghum millet … the result was absolutely same without any difference in taste except that the fries turned out much more crispier … totally Yummilicious …
** Dangara is a famous dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine, a name given to deep fried fritters prepared using leafy veggies along with spices, tuvar dal/ pigeon peas and rice. I have already written in detail about the traditional dish before and this recipe is a takeoff from the same by replacing tuvar dal with jowar/ sorghum, a millet considered to be healthy. This year being the International year for millets, as I mentioned often before I am trying to add them on to dishes without changing the basic recipe much.
** I have often written about my penchant for GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine and my desire to put it out there on world map as I find it not only tasty but also healthy and easy to cook too. This was the very purpose for which I have been writing a blog on recipes so that the future generations not only get traditional dishes but also those with variations to suite changing times and each one’s palate. I am sharing link to the previous one at the bottom of this recipe, do check out on the same for more information.
** As I mentioned Dangara are deep fried fritters prepared with three main ingredients ie. tur dal (pigeon peas), tandul (rice), taikilo (takla/ cassia taro leaves) along with ground spices. Taikilo is a leafy veggie that grows abundantly on its own during monsoon courtesy mother Nature and we really need to be thankful for being able to receive them as sort of a blessing as they are believed to have lots of medicinal properties and our ancestors insisted that we consume them for maintaining of year round good health.
** Millets as you all know are very good for health, though certain precautions like proper soaking and cooking needs to be followed. Being the International year for millet and our country being an abundant source of the same I feel fortunate to introduce recipes that can be prepared using them while keeping the basics of cooking to traditions. Here I have just replaced tur dal with jowar and I really got fantastic results. Do try this out and enjoy with your family and friends and do not forget to give me a feedback.
** Here is my own recipe for “Jwari- Taikile Dangara (Jowar/ Sorghum- Cassia Taro Leaves/ Takla Fritters)” … a takeoff from traditional recipe ….
** Ingredients:
Whole Jwari/ Jowar/ Sorghum : 1 cup
Tandul/ Rice/ Akki : 1 cup (I used Surti Kollam)
Jwari/ Jowar/ Sorghum Flour : ½ to 1 cup or as required.
Taikilo/ Takla/ Cassia Taro Leaves : 3-4 cups of finely chopped tender leaves
Narla Katla/ Coconut Pieces : 1 cup
Kumte Mirsange Pitti/ Kasmiri Chilly Powder/ Mirchi Tikkat : 3-4 tblsp
Amchur/ Dry Mango Powder : 1 tblsp
Asafoetida/ Hing Powder : 1 tsp
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** Refined Oil for deep frying.
** Wash and soak jwari/ sorghum in plenty of water overnight or for minimum 6-8 hours. Also wash and soak rice in water separately just for 2-3 hours.
** Note : DO NOT soak jwari and rice together in water as the soaking time differs. Whole millets always need to be soaked overnight or for 6-8 hours for proper cooking and digestion of the same, while rice needs only 2-3 hours.
** After the soaking period drain off the water from jwari and rice, wash them in plenty of water again, drain and put them in a colander separately for some time for the excess water to be drain off and keep this ready aside.
** Pick tender taikilo/takla leaves. Rinse them well under running water, drain off all water, pat them dry with a thick towel if necessary or let dry overnight and then chop them finely. Keep this ready aside before grinding other ingredients.
** In a mixer grinder add the coconut katla/ pieces and using pulse mode grind a few times so that you get finely grated sort of coconut pieces, do not grind it to fine texture. Remove and keep this aside separately.
** Add the drained jwari into mixer grinder and grind adding water little by little to get a fine paste. The texture need not be too fine and can be ground to that of fine rava too. Remove and keep this aside separately.
** Now follow by adding drained rice into mixer grinder and grind adding water little by little to get a fine paste. Here too the texture need not be too fine and can be ground to that of fine rava too. Remove and keep this aside separately.
** Now add the ground jwari, rava and coconut mixtures in a wide bowl. Add in the finely chopped taikilo/ takla leaves along with hing powder, chilly powder, amchur powder, salt to taste and mix the mixture well.
** Now add half of the jwari flour, mix well adding water as is necessary to get a good binding to the mixture. Add more flour if necessary only, the mixture should be soft yet come to a ball consistency when you roll it on hand to tikki shape.
** Note : Take a lemon sized mixture and roll to a ball and then slightly flatten it to a peda/ tikki shape. If it holds well smoothly without breaking up then the texture is perfect, otherwise you will need to adjust the same by either adding some water if too dry or flour if too loose in texture. Check out the picture attached for reference.
** Cover the mixture with a lid and keep it aside for a minimum of 10-15 minutes. This will help the mixture to get settled a bit and you can check out the same if it is turned too dry or thinner and adjust accordingly.
** Note : You can also keep it in an airtight container in fridge which enables it to bind tighter there by making it easier to prepare tikki for frying.
** For making of Dangara/ Fritters : Take a large tablespoon full or a lemon sized ball of mixture in hand and roll it to form a ball, flatten it a bit by pressing gently and keep it on a plate. Prepare a few more similar dangars/ fritters and keep them ready along with the remaining mixture before frying procedure is started.
** Add sufficient oil for deep-frying in a thick bottomed kadai. Put it on high heat to bring it to full heat/ smoking point, then reduce the heat to medium and wait for 5 minutes. Check the temperature by adding a pinch bit of mixture in the hot oil carefully. If the mixture comes up within a few seconds without being burnt, it means the oil is hot to correct temperature and it is ready for frying the danger/ fritters.
** Now add in one by one prepared dangars /fritters in hot oil carefully. Do not overcrowd the kadai, there should be enough space left for the dangars/ fritters to get deep fried properly. Let it fry for 4-5 minutes on even heat/ temperature, then flip them over gently with a slotted/ ringed spatula and when they are lightly and evenly browned keep turning them properly so that they get browned and crispy all over.
** Once they are fried to golden brown remove and keep in an absorbent paper for the excess oil to drain off. Continue with the remaining mixture in similar pattern by preparing the dangars and then frying them in batches until all the mixture has been done and the fritters or the required numbers are fried.
** “Jwari- Taikile Dangara (Jowar/ Sorghum- Cassia Taro Leaves/ Takla Fritters)” is done and ready to be served. Always serve Dangars/ Fritters hot for best taste with Dalitoy (spiced dal) along with rice and other dishes as accompaniment. We GSB Konkani Saraswat always serve them during meals and it is an excellent combination with dal- chawal to be prepared and served especially when you have guests for lunch/ dinner, do try it out and enjoy with your family and friends, sure to be loved by all.
** Note : In case the mixture prepared is more and you do not need to fry them all at one time, just put them in an stainless steel box with tight lid and put it in the fridge. It remains good for almost 2-3 days provided you put it as soon as ground, which means you can prepare it prior for cutting workload. You just need to remove it out say about 15 minutes before you need to deep fry them, tastes equally good.
** Note : You can increase of decrease the amount chilly powder as per your spice requirement in your family. I always use Kashmiri chilly powder which is less spicy as it not only gives a lovely color but can be added a little more too.
** Sharing below a common link to “Dangar” along with the one to traditional one posted before in my Blog, you can check out the same for reference or try them out too.
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