Nevri (Karjikayi)

Nevri or Karjikayi is a very popular sweet. This sweet is commonly made on Ganesh Chaturthi. Nevri is semi- circle shaped. It has a crispy outer cover with a sweet filling inside.

I had very little idea about this sweet as my mother never made it. I heard from my MIL about this , as she used to make this as naivedya for the god. Hence I decided to try it on my own. I went through several recipes and finally came up with my own filling. This time I tried the dry coconut- sugar filling. Next time I am thinking of the coconut- jaggery filling (the shelf life of the sweet mainly depends on the filling but I don't think about that, as I know it will not remain for more than three days when I am around:-)). For the outer covering, I used the recipe of the Biscuit Rotti.
This sweet demands more energy and time but trust me its worth all the effort.

Ingredients:

For the outer cover:

• All Purpose Flour/ Maida- 1 cup plus extra for dusting
• Semolina/Sooji- 2 Tbsp
• Salt- To taste
• Hot oil- 3 tsp
• Water- As required

Procedure for making the outer cover:-

Take a mixing bowl and add all purpose flour, sooji, salt and hot oil. Mix it with the help of a spoon. Now add water in small quantities and make a dough which is not too hard or not too soft. Keep the dough covered for half an hour.

For the filling:

• Grated Dry Coconut*- 1 cup
• Powdered Sugar- 1 cup
• Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp
• Chopped Dry Fruits- As required (I didn't add)
• Badam Milk Powder**- 2 Tbsp (optional)

*I used the coconut powder. It works well but the grated dry coconut gives a nice texture to the filling.

**I had home made badam milk powder. Hence added it to the filling. This is totally optional. The chopped dry fruits works well too.

Procedure for making the filling:-

Before mixing all the ingredients mentioned for filling, just dry roast the shredded dry coconut for couple of minutes, until you get a nice aroma (no need to fry it until it changes color). I just did it in a microwave for one and half minutes ( giving a stir in between for every 20- 25 seconds). Allow it to cool.

Once the dry coconut is nice and cold, then add in the rest of the ingredients mentioned under the filling and mix well. Filling is ready.

Now Assembling Part:

Keep a small bowl of water or milk to seal the nevris.

First divide the dough into 21 equal parts (or you can reduce the number and make big sized nevris). Keep the dough closed with a paper towel or a cloth.

Now start rolling one of the dough ball and make a circle of diameter 5-6 inches ( use all purpose flour for dusting, if required).

Now place the filling (2 tsp or little more) at the center.

Them smear little water or milk along the border. Then slowly lift one end of the rolled dough on the opposite side, to get a semi circle, as shown below.

Now slowly press the border of the semi circle so that it is well sealed. Then take a fork and make pattern by pressing it along the border of the semi circle.

Repeat the same procedure with the rest of the dough. 
Then deep fry them in a pre heated oil until it turns crispy and a light brown color is got on both sides (the heat should be medium while frying). 
Once done transfer it on a paper towel, to drain excess oil. Nevri is ready!!

Offer the Nevri to Lord Ganesha or you can as well enjoy it as a snack. Store it in an air tight container. This sweet remains good for 2-3 weeks. Above measurement makes 21 small sized Nevris.