I decided to start off my mum’s recipe series or category with one of my top favourites. ‘Nai urundai’ or ghee balls. I am not a great fan of Indian sweets but this one is quite exceptional. I didn’t always like it. I acquired a taste for this melt-in-your mouth roundish yumminess in my latter years.

What sold me are the huge amounts of cashew nuts and raisins that my mum adds to the mix. She sautés these two ingredients in ghee or clarified butter. The raisins swell-up and the cashew nuts become crunchier. Absorbed in ghee, the sweetness and crunchiness are what transform the green pea flour, sugar and salt into an extraordinary dessert for Deepavali.

My mum always lights up like a little Christmas tree when preparing for the Festival of Lights. She is happy, enthusiastic and looks forward to the celebration. And, seriously rallies her troops (her arms, legs and entire being) to be up to the task ahead.  With her sous chef, daughter number 3, they produce traditional and familiar smells, tastes, emotions and memories that waft and permeate the kitchen and entire condo.

In the here and now or instant gratification world that we live in – where just about anything can be bought, worn, watched, experienced, eaten and savoured almost immediately –  waiting, not impatiently or earnestly, but as a matter of course, is not a bad thing. It’s actually nice that my mum’s ‘nai urundai’ makes its appearance to be enjoyed and talked about, once a year, when we celebrate Deepavali.

Ingredients, measurements and instruction

The ingredients, measurements and instruction are based solely on my mum’s description. A handful is the size of her arthritic cupped hand. Cup is her old milk tin. A ladle full is the ladle she’s had forever. Enough of this or that refers to gut feel and visual appearance. And, save some for later means prepare more of one ingredient so that it can be used in another recipe. My mum knows her Deepavali cakes by heart. But getting from A-Z of the first ‘nai urundai’ recipe was interesting and a laugh because discussing the ingredients and instructions triggered memories about things, people and incidences in her life. She meandered. I, on the other hand, tried to keep her on point. My mum won.  Hence, I am not sure if I have got the ‘nai urundai’ ingredients and instructions correct. Or how far I will get with her other recipes. I will do my best.  

Ingredients

According to my mum, the number of ‘nai urundai’ that can be produced from these ingredients depends on the size of the chef’s cupped hand.

• 3 cups (milk tin) of green peas (read how to transform green peas into silky smooth green pea flour)
• 2 cups (milk tin) of sugar (grind until smooth)
• Enough salt for 3 cups of flour and 2 cups of sugar (grind salt until smooth)
• I handful of raisins (wash and dry)
• 1 handful of chopped cashews nuts (wash and dry)
• 1 ladle of ghee or clarified butter (to sauté the washed and dried raisins and chopped cashew nuts)
• 1 ladle of ghee (to bind and roll flour mix into ghee balls)

Preparing green pea flour (follow carefully to get the real deal taste of my mum’s ghee balls)

• First, wash and dry 3 cups of green peas
• Then, grind the green peas until it becomes green pea flour (use an electric grinder or have it ground at a flour mill)
• Dry fry the green pea flour
• Sieve the ground green pea flour to remove lumps

 Instructions

• Prepare 2 large bowls
• Place the now silky smooth green pea flour in 1 bowl
• Mix the ground salt, sugar and green pea flour thoroughly
• Heat the first ladle of ghee in a kuali
• Fry the washed and dried raisin and chopped cashew nuts in the hot ghee
• Place raisins and cashews in bowl 2
• Heat up the second ladle of ghee in the same kuali
• Scoop enough ghee-fried raisins and chopped cashews into the green pea flour
• Roll and make round ghee balls
• Add more warm ghee as needed to moisten, bind and roll the mixture into a ball
• Make sure each ‘nai urundai’ has about the same number of raisins and chopped cashew nuts
• This ensures consistency and yumminess in every mouthful

Point to note.  The hardest and longest part of making ‘nai urundai’ is prepping the green peas. The short cut is to buy ready-made green pea flour, available aplenty in the market.

Taste? Not like my mum’s, naturally.