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Ruchik Randhap

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Neurio/Nevries (Crescent Shaped Sweet Puffs) ~ Traditional Mangalorean Kuswar

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It’s been a year since this blog was reborn – I cannot write further unless I thank the people who believed in me & with a word of encouragement, a gentle nudge & a loving (?) kick got me to revive this blog – I haven’t looked back ever since and I hope to carry on with as much passion & enthusiasm as I have done the whole year through in recording the recipes that I try out in my kitchen. So thanks to my friend May, cousin Prema & hubby Roshan who in various ways (in the order mentioned above) coaxed me to continue writing this blog. My biggest support has been my hubby to whom I dedicate this post. Neurio??? You may ask, well, yes, although he is my biggest critic and the one who gives me a thumbs up or thumbs down signal each time something is whipped up in my kitchen, he was travelling when I made the Neurio and didn’t get even a crumb to eat when he returned. So yes, this is for you Roshan – feast your eyes on these pics, willya!
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I am sure most of you have eaten the Neurio which are are popularly called as Karanji with slight variations in the filling. Karanjis are made especially during Diwali, at least in South India and are a significant item on the Kuswar platter as well during Christmas. In my opinion Neurios are best made at home as the filling is fresh, fragrant & juicy – unlike the store bought variety which is made weeks in advance and tastes rancid (stale) if you have been unlucky enough to pick up old stock.

 

Making Neurio (Nevries) at home is lots of fun. Among all the Kuswar items I learnt to make them first from my MIL a few years ago. It is one sweet that falls into the dual category – simple yet complex – simple because technically it’s not as difficult as it looks – the dough & the filling is damn easy to make and complex only in terms of the steps involved in doling out each Nevri. Make the dough, prepare the mixture for the filling, roll out puris, place the filling, fold, cut the edges, deep fry! So yes, an extra pair of hands can be a blessing. But people like me who live away from home and have no help beyond a pair of 3 year old hands which generously help by eating up half the mixture can also make it with great elan!
Describing a Nevri is what I like to do best – a crescent shaped sweet samosa with a crunchy exterior and a delightful centre – a filling made of sesame, cashewnuts, poppy seeds, kopra , raisins, sugar (or jaggery) & cardamom – is like a coming together of a large family made up of a variety of members, their characters, temperaments, shapes, sizes & nuances – each bringing in a special flavour & fragrance into the family – the presence of all brings great sweetness into one’s life and an absence of even one is greatly felt.
Such are our Indian festivals – the great Indian family that comes together brings all this & more. This reminds me of one of my favourite quotes
~ “A family that prays together & eats together definitely stays together” ~
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Neurio/Sweet Puffs
Yield: approx 25-27

You Need:

For the dough:

  • 2-1/2 cups/ 300gm maida (all purpose flour) + extra for rolling
  • 1 fistful / 25gm (approx) rawa (semolina)
  • 3/4th cup (approx) warm water
  • a sprinkling of sugar
  • salt to taste

For the filling:

  • 1/3 cup/50gm sesame seeds (til)
  • 1/3 cup/50gm broken cashewnuts (kaju)
  • 2 tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
  • 1/4 cup slivered/chopped dried coconut (kopra) – optional
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut
  • 2 tbsp (approx) /40gm raisins (kishmish) – cleaned, washed & dried
  • 3 tbsp/25gm caster sugar or regular granulated sugar powdered
  • 2-3 cardamoms (elaichi) powdered – optional
For deep frying
  • approx 1 litre oil
Method:



To make the dough
1. In a large wide bowl mix the maida, rawa and the salt and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the warm water working your way towards kneading the mixture. Initially the mixture will look like bread crumbs. Use the heel of your palm to knead into a smooth dough. This can take 5-7 minutes, add parts of the reserved water until your dough is smooth & pliable. Reserve any remaining water aside.
2. Cover the dough with a damp cloth for a few minutes until required.

To make the filling
1. Heat a tawa/skillet and roast the sesame seeds, broken cashewnuts, grated coconut & poppy seeds one by one on a slow flame until just about roasted. Do not over roast them as they will turn bitter.
2. Mix all the ingredients (except the raisins & kopra) in a large bowl & add the powdered sugar. Transfer this mixture on to the hot tawa once again and continue to stir until the entire mixture turns sticky (as the sugar begins to melt). Keep aside

To assemble
1. Make small lime size balls out of the dough, dust with a little flour and roll them into thin flat circles, the size of puris.
2. Place about 1 tsp of the sticky mixture right in the centre of the puri, place a couple of slivers of kopra and raisins each on the mixture.
3. Use the reserved water to moisten the edges of the puri – this helps to seal the edges as the water acts as a glue between the edges. Fold the puri in half such that it forms a crescent shape (semi circle). Seal the edges carefully and use a cookie cutting blade/pizza cutter to trim the jagged edges or just use a fork to make a pretty design around the edges.
4. Repeat the steps until all the filling has been used up. Retain the extra dough (if any) to make Tukdi (recipe to follow)

To deep fry
1. Heat oil on a medium high flame for deep frying in a large heavy bottomed wide kadhai or wok. Test the preparedness of the oil by dropping a small ball of dough into the oil. If it comes up to the surface immediately (within 2-3 seconds) the oil is ready for deep frying.
2. Depending on how large your kadhai is carefully drop 6-7 nevris into the hot oil and fry both the sides till golden in colour.
3. Remove using a slotted colander, drain excess oil and transfer the nevris onto an absorbent kitchen towel
4. Let the nevris cool completely before you store it in airtight containers. Nevris keep well for 10-12 days after which the filling may turn rancid.

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Stepwise:
Pic1: Make lime size balls
Pic2: Roll out the dough into medium sized puris
Pic3: Place the mixture/filling in the centre leaving out enough space around the edges


Pic4: Moisten the edges with water – this helps to seal the edges properly else they will open up while frying
Pic5: Fold the puri into half forming a crescent (half moon) shape. Gently seal the edges with your fingers
Pic6: Trim the edges using a pizza cutter or a fork


Pic7: Drop neuries into the hot oil
Pic8: Fry on both sides and add oil on the surface of the neuries until they puff up
Pic9: Fry till pinkish brown & remove

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Above Pic: You can either use a cookie/pizza cutter or a fork to trim the edges or make a design


Notes:
It is preferable not to roast the raisins as they taste sour when you eat the nevri, you can just place them onto  the mixture while preparing the neuries
If you still have some dough remaining after using up all the mixture you can make simple salted Thukdi out of it (recipe to follow)

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Comments

  2. Sunita says

    Wow!!! Neurio ekdum ruchik distaat. The step wise details along with the pictures are phenomenal. Mostu deo borenkaru! I'll try them.

    Reply

  3. Anonymous says

    Wow looks mouthwatering…and excellently fried(all evenly fried)…Hey Shir u can use Karanji maker(ravioli maker i must say) to make them…tht makes ur work much simpler,just lay the rolled out dough in it put in filling and fold the ravioli mould..gives perfect shape as well… my sis used to make it in it but i did nt get one here… in mumbai u get a set of it in 3 different sizes..i'm sure u knw better than me..haha….. kindu

    Reply

  10. eeepppeee says

    Oh my Gosh, These look heavenly in every way!!!!! Lucky Roshan… shireen you truly r gifted girl and go girl aim for the moon as you will do it….on the way donot forget us.. tarla Dalal baby you r left way way behind….

    Reply

  14. Only Fish Recipes says

    first time in your space n I must say I absolutely loved it ! I'm a huge fan of mangalorean recipes….n I just loved these crispy sweet puffs…happy to follow u here 🙂 do visit my space whenever u hav time 🙂

    Reply

  16. SKIP TO MALOU says

    we have something very similar to your karanjis.. im always fascinated how food around the globe are so diverse yet very similar in so many ways.
    these karanjis look so crunchy and flaky im sure i could finish a basket full of it haha.
    great to be back here1
    malou

    Reply

  19. Priya Sreeram says

    hi shireen- glad to know your blog was reborn aftern everyone's persistence- the post is lovely and karanjis ( I did not know they are also called as neurio) are my fav- so this post has my attention

    Reply

  23. Shireen Sequeira says

    Thanks everyone for your lovely comments!!

    @Sunita: You need to roll out the puris very thin and the oil should be adequately hot – keep the flame on a medium high, if it is not sufficiently hot, the neuries will not puff up & will end up soggy. Secondly, thick puris will refuse to puff up and after frying they will fall flat or turn soggy. Thirdly you must keep them on an absorbent kitchen tissue or newspaper and leave it uncovered until it cools completely – don't store them in a box unless they have been cooled completely

    Reply

  25. Unknown says

    Yummmmm……my favorite kuswar! Such nice recipes and such beautiful pictures!
    Your blog is simply superb. have tried many recipes, all turned out great. Thanks and appreciate all your efforts.
    Sonia

    Reply

  27. Sara Rasquinha says

    hi shrieen, tried your neurio recipe today and it turned out just great! thank you for all your efforts in putting up this lovely recipe

    Reply

  29. Anonymous says

    Can you substitute some other type of flour for all purpose flour and still have it stay together during frying? I developed an allergy to wheat as I got older, but miss cripsy Nevries so bad. I tried rice flour, but that doesn't do well and falls apart on me.

    Reply

  30. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Anonymous: I am sorry, but I've never tried making nevries with any other flour than all purpose flour. The little chapathis (puris)/covering needs a glutinous flour to enable the filling to remain inside, hence rice flour won't work. If I ever try it with any other flour I will let u know how it turns out!

    Reply

  31. Teena Fernandes says

    Hi Shireen,
    Tried making the nevries on Saturday. The taste was excellent but the nevries turned out to be hard, thick and rubbery. Can you help me – as to why it turned out like this? Was it because I did not roll the dough thin enough?
    Teena

    Reply

  32. Teena Fernandes says

    Hi Shireen,
    I prepared the nevries on Saturday. The taste was perfect but the nevries turned out thick and rubbery in taste. Can you please explain to me – where I need to correct myself.
    Regards
    Teena

    Reply

  33. Shireen Sequeira says

    Hi Teena,

    Did you roll the pooris/covering for neuries too thick? Also, if the oil was not at the right temperature it would have not fried crisp and hence making it rubbery upon cooling. Make sure that the oil is hot (but not smoking) before dropping the neuries into the pan and secondly they should be drained well of excess oil before removing from the pan..place them, on a kitchen tissue to absorb excess oil. Hope it helps!

    Reply

  34. Unknown says

    Hi Shireen,

    You have a very nice blog here very helpful. I am planning on making the nevris and was wanting to know the coconut used in the filling is it fresh or desicated coconut please reply.
    Thanks.

    Reply

  35. Shireen Sequeira says

    Unknown: Thanks a lot! You need to use freshly grated coconut. Pls note that fresh coconut filling won't last for many days so you can either make the filling in bulk and freeze it and use as and when required or make small batches of nevries and finish them up soon

    Reply

  36. Benny Dsouza says

    Hi Shireen, the nevreo receipe is very nice. In the end you mentioned to use the remaining dough. It is an error. You said you can make some simple salty thudki. It is not thudki, but it is thukdi. I do it often.

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      I don’t keep anything with fresh coconut for more than 2 days at room temperature and plus they get over quickly. I suggest you refrigerate them if the weather is humid/hot

      Reply

  40. Bertha Fernandes says

    Hi Shireen. I know Nevries are always deep fried but can these be baked. I tried baking and they were quite disastrous.

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Hi Bertha

      That’s sad to know! Actually I have never tried baking nevries either…maybe I should. Will give them a try and let you know

      Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Hi Nisha,

      Yes, if fresh coconut is not available you may use desiccated coconut too but the flavour may change slightly

      Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Thanks a lot! Yes, they come out crisp if you fry them in hot oil at the right temperature…I haven’t used jaggery instead of sugar

      Reply