আনন্দ নাড়ু
"Ananda naru" (আনন্দ নাড়ু) is a unique Bengali sweet that is rarerly available in any shop. It is made at home on specific joyous ocassions like wedding, first RICE ceremony of a newborn or Annoprashon, the THREAD ceremony or Upanayan that initiates a Bramhin boy into the formal world of scriptures. Hence the name "ANANDA" or joy. Unfortunately there is a traditional injunction that forbids the making of this sweet at any other time.Enterprising ladies circumvent this most unfortunate restriction by making the same sweet but refering to it as "ICHCHHA NARU" (ইচ্ছা নাড়ু ) to celebrate the fulfilling of any wish irrespective of the occasion.
The recent political upheaval in West Bengal prompted my mother to celebrate the change with a pot full of crispy Ichchhanaru (ইচ্ছা নাড়ু ) as per the following recipe.
"আনন্দ নাড়ু" or"ইচ্ছা নাড়ু" is a crispy sweet but can also be taken as a snacks like cakes or biscuits and can be eaten with tea also!
Rice Flour : 600 gms
Jaggery : 500 gms
One Fresh, large Coconut (grated) : 2 cups
Sesame seeds (White) : 200 gms
Mustard oil for frying
(for making 30 such narus)
Kead all the ingredients thoroughly together except the mustard oil and make balls (naru) from the dough. Deep Fry the narus in hot mustard oil till dark brown. Cool and store in an airtight container. It can be kept for a month if made in the exact ratio.
