Chawal Ke Phare | Garima Tiwari

Food memories can be incredibly strong and are often a binding force between generations. As kids we tend to associate specific places, people or times of the year with different aromas and emotions. Memories of traditional food cooked in my grandma’s kitchen connected me to her and continues to bring pure joy and happy reminders of the time I spent in my maternal village. 

Cooking of phara, a simple yet flavourful breakfast made of rice, is a labour of love. It requires rolling of small dumpling like elongated fingers. It takes even more time and effort when cooked in large quantities for joint families. This is when all members of the family sit together to shape the pharas resulting in a form of family bonding. It is during these moments of making phara with my grandma I caught an interest in details of everyday cooking. Grandma’s careful nuances to carry out simple steps of preparing our traditional dishes stayed with me. Today when I prepare phara with my little daughter it triggers intense recollection of happy memories with my grandmother.

Method

For the Dough:

1. Combine cooked rice, rice flour and salt together and mash.
2. Make a tight dough using sprinkles of water.
3. Divide the dough into coin size portions and roll into pharas (thin finger shaped dumplings).

For the Tadka (Tempering)

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add dry red chillies and sesame seeds. 
3. Add curry leaves followed by ¼ cup of water.
4. Add the rolled pharas, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.
5. Flip the fingers and cook without covering for another 5 minutes stirring carefully not to break the pharas.
6. Add fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with green chutney.

Tips:

1. Use of rice flour from newly harvested rice is considered best to make pharas.
2. Use very little water to make the dough. If the rice is too mushy you might not require any water at all.

Watch this recipe here – Chawal Ke Phare

Garima Tiwari is a regional food blogger, content creator and culinary chronicler. She is passionate about the regional cuisines of India and is currently documenting recipes from her home state of Chhattisgarh. A lawyer by profession, she juggles between work, motherhood and her passion for reading and writing stories about food. You can find her on social media as Noneecooks and can learn about cuisine and culture of Chhattisgarh region through her detailed posts on local, seasonal produce, cooking techniques and consumption.

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