Diwali Special Photo Feature - Chirote

"Stop playing in the mud, clean up yourself and get the diyas ready for the evening."
"But mummy, we are almost done! We are just finishing with the fountain..."
"Come inside now, both of you. S you start preparing for diyas. Minu, you start with rangoli I will come and see... "
"But ... but ..."
"I said NOW... we have to finish making chirote tonight for tomorrow's faral ..."

My brother and I could never win an argument with her so when she said stop, with little to no resistance we would do what was told. She would finish make all diwali delicacies with our help in 3-4 days. I love everything she makes for Diwali but her chirote are the best! She used to make these for Diwali every year. These days she waits until all of us around to eat. This puff pastry like delicacy is very time consuming and needs skillful hands like my mom. In the past, I have helped her make these under her supervision. Last year I decided to take pictures while she and my sister-in-law were making it.

"Minu, sieve rava, maida properly"
"Yes mummy! It is done. Shall I heat oil?"
"Make nice well in the flour and pour the hot oil in there carefully. Did u add salt and sugar?"
"Yes!"
"Use very little water, make the dough stiff."
"...."
"USE VERY LITTLE WATER!!! Make a nice ball and cover with wet towel and leave it aside."

Fast forward couple of hours ...

"Pound the dough nicely ..."
"Why cant we use more water and make the dough soft... this is too hard to pound... can I stop now?"
"Is the dough soft like chapati dough?"
"NO..."
"Then keep on going!!!"
"Ok.. done!!!"

Even the stone mortar and pestle look tired to me ...

"Now divide the dough in same size balls... you should make balls in multiples of 3. Cover the rest of the balls while you are rolling the first one..."
"..."
"Make the very thin chapati ... as thin as possible ... it should be almost paper thin ..."

"Slightly flour these and carefully fold and set them aside ..."

"Okay, this is the last chapati, now start spreading oil and fine rice flour alternately. Spread uniformly..."

"How much oil should I use? I remember you used to whip homemade butter and rice flour in the past."

"Yes!! Traditionally you beat sweet butter until fluffy, add rice flour and mix well. I used to spread this mixture between the chapatis. But recently I decided to give it a try with oil. It comes out great too with oil."
"Approximately how much oil do you use?"
"About 1 tablespoon oil and little less rice flour than that for 10-12 inch chapati."
"How much butter if someone wants to use it?"
"Approximately same amount."

"Now carefully spread 2nd chapati over it and repeat oil-rice flour layer"

"Repeat with 3rd chapati ..."

"Now make nice roll. Very carefully press every fold, and the folds should stick to each other. The roll should not be loose."

"Press the roll..."

"Repeat these steps with remaining chapatis. Cover all the rolls with wet towel."

"Now cut one roll. Make each piece approximately 1" thick"

"Press one piece vertically so that all the layers of the roll look like a rose."

"Roll the piece lightly into a rose"

"Make one chirota at a time ..."

"Fry it before making the next one ..."

"Press in the middle, make sure the center is covered with oil. Center should be fried thoroughly. Use medium hot oil so it stays golden brown and center is gets fried properly.."

"Each layer should be nicely separated and crisp ..."

"Sprinkle powdered sugar ... and enjoy"

Ingredients - 
1 cup All purpose flour
1 cup Fine Semolina (Rava/Suji)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
3 tbsp hot Oil
Water as needed
Oil for spreading and deep frying
Powdered/confectioners sugar to sprinkle

Tips -

• Given measurements should yield 10-12 chirote.
• Some people make thick sugar syrup and dip deep fried chirote immediately to make 'Pakatale chirote'. We like sprinkled more than syrupy.
• You can use one food color and make alternate colored chitore.