Bhopalyache Gharge or Pumpkin Sweet Bread is a traditional Maharashtrian Sweet that can be made from minimum ingredients available at home. People have almost forgotten this traditional recipe.
Yield: 10-12 Gharge
Time: Approx. 45 min.
Ingredients:
1 tspn Ghee
2 cups Grated Pumpkin
1 cup Grated Jaggery
1/2 tspn Cardamom Powder
2 cups Wheat flour
A pinch of Salt
Ghee for Deep frying
Method:
Peel the pumpkin and grate it. Pressure cook the grated Pumpkin for 3 whistles, till it becomes soft. Now heat ghee in a pan and add the pressure cooked grated Pumpkin. Saute it for a minute and add grated Jaggery to it. Cook the mixture on medium heat and Keep stirring the mixture. After few minutes, the mixture of Pumpkin and Jaggery gets cooked and moisture is released. Now add the Cardamom powder and a pinch of salt to the mixture. Turn off the flame. Transfer the mixture into a bowl.
When the mixture comes to room temperature, start kneading the mixture by adding small quantity of wheat flour. The mixture will absorb approximately 2 cups of wheat flour. You may add some more wheat flour if the dough is loose. After kneading, rest the dough for 10-15 minutes.
Now make small lemon sized balls of dough. Take greased plastic sheet. Pat the balls on the greased plastic sheet to make a round puri. Heat Ghee in a pan and deep fry it in hot Ghee till it turns golden brown in colour.
Drain Gharge on a tissue paper and serve hot.
Notes:
1. Gharge can be stored for a week outside refrigerator.
2. Do not add extra water to pumpkin. The Dough should be made from the moisture released by the mixture.
3. You may also roll out a large roti and cut small sized puris out of it.
4. Some people also add Suji or Rice flour to it. However, by adding Suji or Rice flour, Gharge becomes hard.
Stepwise Pictures: