Monday

Sweet Offering - Nevryo

Up until a few days before Ganesh Chaturthi I was all set to make the traditional modak but then I dropped those plans in favor of these unique 'nevryo'.

Incessant rains, rickety buses and a general risk to life and limb notwithstanding, we would travel from Bombay to visit my grandparents' house in the Konkan, to celebrate the Ganpati festival. After the evening arti at our own home we'd visit the neighbouring houses, relishing the prasad served in every home, joining in their arti and returning home late in the night with our tummies full and our voices hoarse.

I remember eating these sweet potato nevryo on one such visit and the first bite was enough to hook me forever. Nevryo or 'karanji' as they are known in Marathi, are usually made by deep frying crescent shaped turnovers filled with coconut and jaggery. This version (popular in Goa from what I have been told) is made with sweet potato. The nevryo are then lightly roasted on a griddle.

Considering this was my first attempt at making them, the nevryo didn't turn out too badly. Even shaping them wasn't too difficult. Sweet potatoes are often called yams in the U.S. by the way. Weird, I know.
I used white sweet potatoes from the local Chinese market; they turned out to be really fleshy so I didn't need to add even a teaspoon of flour.

nev7b1

RATALA NEVRYO (Sweet Potato Turnovers/ Karanjis)
(adapted from the book 'Ishtann')
Dough -
4-5 sweet potatoes
1/4 cup refined flour (maida)
salt to taste
Filling -
1 1/4 cup grated coconut
3/4 cup jaggery (adjust to taste)
8-10 cashewnuts, broken
a pinch of cardamom powder
salt to taste
ghee

Put potatoes in a stock pot, cover with enough water and cook until done (they should be mushy to the touch). Drain and let cool.

Mix grated coconut, cashew pieces, salt and cardamom powder. Add jaggery and cook on moderate heat until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Keep aside.

Peel potatoes, mash them and form a dough. If you have trouble forming a dough add refined flour (maida) with a spoon just till it can be gathered into a mass (you don't want flour-y nevryo). Flatten into puris/ circles with your fingers. Spoon a little filling on one side and fold over into a crescent. Make ridges with a fork, press lightly and keep aside.

Heat a griddle on moderate heat. Fry the nevryo using ghee until it gets a couple of brown spots here and there. Turn over gently and fry on the other side. Drizzle with ghee and serve hot.

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33 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have never heard of "Nevryo" before. Would love to try this out, its simple, and has all my fav ingredients.
Beautiful picture Ashwini !

Btw i tried your prawns pulao today. Its YUMmm ! Have never made this kind of masala for any pulao/biriyani so far - black cardamom and shah jeera. They add so much of flavor to the pulao.

7:59 PM  
Blogger Menu Today said...

Hi Ashwini,
This dish is totally new to me. I think this dish is with less oil and ghee and good for health too. Thanks for sharing such a traditional recipe.

9:28 PM  
Blogger Sudha said...

Hi Ashwini, this dish is very new to me..and they sound very interesting..nice to know that you are not using any dough, but the sweet potatoe as the base..great one ashwini...Thanks for sharing...

12:07 AM  
Blogger Vaishali said...

That's such a brilliant recipe, Ashwini. And not fried!!! It does not just 'deserve' a try; it 'demands' it. Thanks a lot. May the God, who you offered it to, bless you. :)

3:45 AM  
Blogger Nupur said...

What a great idea to use sweet potatoes as the dough! This is by far the easiest and healthiest "karanji" recipe I have come across.

5:32 AM  
Blogger indianadoc said...

Happy chathurthi wishes ashwini...so many ways of pleasing Ganesha....hmmm...Nevryo might have definitely pleased Ganesha a lot!!Me too..another mini ganesha!!

7:13 AM  
Blogger Mandira said...

Hi Ashwini - We have ranga aloo pithe which has sweet potato stuffing and it tastes great. But no deep frying sounds better...

8:01 AM  
Blogger Neelu said...

Karanji looks delicious... I made ukdiche modak ! Came out good but dint last longer to click :)

9:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lovely...I also prepared Nevri for the festival(first time for me also).Your recipe is a bit different. I will try next time :).

10:18 AM  
Blogger Rajesh &Shankari said...

Never heard of the dish and looks like a great dish, this is going to be on my to do list for my mom when we go next week he heheheheh

10:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nevryo is new...I have had your ingredients mixed with sweet potatoes but not this way.Another one in the Tudo list!!!

10:56 AM  
Blogger KA said...

A dessert without any flour and doesn't require any frying.. wow! joins my must try list..

12:56 PM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Priya - thanks, and glad you liked the pulao
MT, Sudhav - thanks
Vaish - such a dear! Thanks, I hope He was pleased
Nupur - they really are healthy. In fact I added less jaggery too so the sweet potato flavor really stood out
Shynee - you are hilarious! Mini Ganesha?? :-D
Mandira - I loooove ranga aloo. They are even better than gulab jamun in my opinion
Neelu - this was a point and shoot for me too! No arranging photo or anything, else I wouldnt have been able to get a snap either!
Shilpa - loved your prasad photo. I like the other nevri too but these are unique
Shankari - dont rub it in buddy!!! Go on, have fun :-(
Jayashree - let me know if you try it

12:56 PM  
Blogger Manasi said...

Hi Ashwini,
Sweet potato!Wah! kya idea hai! new combo, must be yumm and no frying!must try.... thanx for sharing!

1:55 PM  
Blogger Vineela said...

Hi ASHWINI,
Nevryo looks yummy.
I will try this and let you know.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Vineela

6:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

oooh! yet another sweet potato savoury...would love to get this on my plate sometime soon.Thanks Ashwini for sharing this .

9:48 PM  
Blogger Mahek said...

ashwini
you have posted my hubbys favorite sweet which i will be making in a few days probably tommorow
ratale pan anun thevale ahee
i was so surprised to see it sometimes your postes and mine coincide so much right?
did you read my prawn pulao
pls do so i think the posting was in march 2006
bye
mahek

12:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You had to go spoil the festivities by going all healthy on us, didn't you? ;-)

This sounds delicious. I prefer karanjis made with sugar than gul, so I will probably go that route for this, too. I love that it is not fried!

10:25 AM  
Blogger Prema Sundar said...

Hi Ashwini,
I dont know many recipes in sweet poatato. I used to cook it and add sugar and coconot gratings to it and make it into small balls. Ur recipe is very nice. As my husband likes sweetpotatoes I think i will try this dish..

12:08 PM  
Blogger Krithika said...

What a lovely idea to use sweet potato. Great recipe.

12:27 PM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Manasi, Vineela, Prema, Lera, Krithika - thanks
Mahek - Great minds think alike and all that :-) I read your prawn pulao recipe. I will make it one of these days and let you know. Do post your pics soon..
Manisha - I look at it this way - I can pack more of them in coz they are healthy :-D
If you make them with sugar let me know...would love to know how they taste.

3:32 PM  
Blogger Chandrika said...

I have never had Nevryo before... But now I know the recipe and will surely make it.... It looks so appetising...Thank you Ashwini! :-)

12:59 AM  
Blogger FH said...

Your karanjis look delicious, thank you for sharing!!

9:31 AM  
Blogger Neelu said...

Hi Ashwini thnaks a tons for the name Samo, I got it yest in desi store ! Does Nevryo mean nevaidya ? Looks nice ! arents festivals Fun ? INdina festivals are in abundance from ganapati ot makar sankranta .... we have somehting every month dont we ? And festivals means good food :) YUM

10:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Any tips on making ukdiche modak? I can manage the filling alright, but found a problem with the rice flour available in the US-Indian stores out here. It seemed too coarse and the resulting dough did not have the right consistency... tho' I followed time-tested recipe from "Ruchira". Any suggestion about brand of flour or overcoming this problem?

12:04 PM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Hi anon, I use India Flour Mills rice flour. I havent used Ruchira recipe but the usual measurements are - 4cups flour: 3cups water: 1cup milk...hope this helps?

11:34 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ashwini,
That is such a beautiful and simple recipe, magic with 5 ingredients...i definitely want to give it a try...would the sweet potatoes that we get here be good enough, because there is hardly a sweet taste in them?

5:02 AM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Nandita I think they should do just fine. The outer layer is not supposed to be sweet at all but have the natural taste of the potatoes. You might want to add just a little bit of sugar if you feel they arent sweet at all. Let me know how you like them.

10:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

never heard abt this Nevryo...will try this week..thnx for sharing..

10:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing such a great recipe,Ashwini.I always thought that 'yam' meant 'suran',but found out it stood for sweet potato here.I haven't been able to find suran here,do you know if it is available in US?

11:34 AM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Anon, glad you liked it. I havent seen yam (suran) here except sometimes in the Indian store. You could also check the freezer section of Indian stores as these hard to get veggies are sometimes available in frozen packs. Good luck.

11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi ashwini, i could not find any good recipe for sweet potato online.just now i called up home and asked my dad about this nevryo and he told the exact same recipe :) will be trying it out today..

2:04 AM  
Blogger Ashwini said...

Ashu, these are really lovely. Try them you wont be disappointed

7:04 PM  

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