Dry Fruit & Nut Roll (Diwali sweet)

I never realised the Dry Fruit Palkova was such a big hit till the day before yesterday. We all really did enjoy the twist to the palkova loaded with dry fruit and nuts on Janmashtami day. The next day hubby took some to his workplace to share with his colleages and said everyone loved it.

The day before yesterday, he got back from work asking if we had the dry fruit palkova on our list of to-do sweets for Diwali. When MIL and I shook our heads saying we’d already planned other sweets, he asked us to prepare a small batch for sharing with his colleagues as they’d requested him to bring some post-Diwali too! I must say I was thrilled and readily agreed.

While the sweet we’d prepared during Krishna Jayanti/Janmashtami had the palkova as the base, I used a mix of ground dates and figs, apart from palkova of course, for this one. We ended up preparing quite some quantity, close to one kilogram, for sharing with family and friends. Although, it is nothing compared to the 30 or so kilogram of a similar sweet prepared by Vaishali (Nutty Fig Roll)  that inspired the shape and presentation of this one.

 I’m glad too that I could make this sweet this Diwali and also in time for the  Blogging Marathon ! And in case you’re wondering about the other sweet in the picture, it is a Rasgulla made with demerara sugar instead of the usual white sugar. Click here if you want to make it.

This is not a very difficult thing to prepare and looks as good as it tastes. Nor is it very time-consuming IF you plan well and prepare this in stages. I did this over two days as and when I got time. The best part is that it uses hardly any sugar or ghee, although it has quite a bit of nuts – healthy calories I say! Try this for yourself.

DRY FRUIT & NUT ROLL

Ingredients:

(makes around 50 pieces)

Dates – 200 gm

Figs – 250 gm

Almonds – 200 gm

Cashewnuts – 100 gm

Pistachio nuts – 100 gm

Palkova/khova – 100 gm (optional)

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Method:

Chop all the nuts. I got over 2 cups. You could get more or less depending on how big or small you chop the nuts

Finely chop half the quantity of figs and dates

Sprinkle some water on the remaining figs and microwave for a couple of minutes (See Note no.1)

Grind the cooked figs and reserved dates with as little water as required (See Note no.2) into as smooth a paste as you can, but don’t labour over this

Grind around ½ cup of the chopped nuts into a fine powder (see Note no. 3)

Heat ghee in wide, non-stick pan. Once it is warm enough, add the ground date-fig mixture

Cook on medium heat, stirring often to ensure the mixture doesn’t scorch

Cook till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan and starts to come together

Remove from heat and add the palkova/khova and mix well

Add the nut powder a little at a time and add as much as you need to make the mixture less sticky (See Note 3) Knead with your hands or mix really well with a strong wooden spoon

Add chopped nuts, figs and dates and mix thoroughly

Place a portion of this mixture on a sheet of cling film or clean sheet of plastic. Form into a log around an inch and a half across. I got three logs, each around 8-9 inches long

Wrap it up well in the plastic sheet and refrigerate for a couple of hours or so. I left it in overnight

Cut the log into roundels of desired thickness

Keep refrigerated if you want firm pieces or keep it out if you do not mind somewhat sticky ones. I’ve kept mine at room temperature.

NOTES

1. I microwaved for 3 minutes and they puffed up nice and good, but turned hard after a while. I had to immerse them in water for ten minutes to somewhat soften them
2. Since my figs were somewhat overcooked and turned hard, I needed about ¼ cup of water to grind the dates and figs well. Iused the water in which I’d soaked the figs to soften them. A little more or less water doesn’t matter much
3. You can grind additional nuts into a powder and add in if need be. I ground another 1/8 cup of the chopped nuts

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