Farali Chevdoફરાળી ચેવડો
Potato straws fried with peanuts, coconut slivers and raisins. Keep a tin of it and the whole month of Shravan becomes easier.
Ingredients
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- 3 potatoes, cut into thin straws
- ½ cup peanuts, ¼ cup dried coconut slivers
- ¼ cup raisins
- Curry leaves (if your fast allows), 2 slit chillies
- Rock salt, 1 tsp sugar, a pinch of pepper
- Oil for frying
Method
- Soak the potato straws in cold water for 10 minutes, drain and dry them thoroughly on a cloth.
- Fry in hot oil in small batches until crisp.
- In the same oil, fry the peanuts, coconut, raisins and chillies separately.
- Combine everything and toss with salt, sugar and pepper.
- Cool completely before storing in a tin.
Tips
- Wet potatoes spit in the oil and never crisp properly.
- Fry in small batches or the straws clump together.
Storing and reheating
Once it is completely cold, chevdo stays crisp in an airtight tin for eight to ten days. Raisins give off moisture, so if you want it to last, keep them aside and add them at serving. Store the tin somewhere cool and dry; even the steam near a stove will soften it. If it does go limp, toss it in a dry kadhai on low heat for two or three minutes to bring the crunch back.
What you can swap
- Sweet potato straws work in place of potato. They colour faster, so drop the heat a little.
- Cashew pieces or slivered almonds can replace the peanuts. Both fry faster than peanuts, so lift them out after fifteen or twenty seconds.
- If your sugar is coarse, grind it to a powder. Granulated sugar does not cling to the chevdo; it settles at the bottom of the tin.
- Red chilli powder instead of pepper is fine in principle, but many households do not allow it on a fast. On those days, stay with pepper and the slit green chillies.
What to serve with it
This is the handful you reach for in the afternoon or evening of a fast day. Through Shravan, Navratri and Ekadashi, a tin of it lives in the kitchen. On ordinary days it is just as good with a cup of tea.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not cut the potato straws thick. A thick straw colours on the outside while staying soft inside, and goes leathery as it cools. Use the fine side of the grater.
- If the oil is not properly hot the straws drink it and the chevdo turns greasy. Test with one straw: it should rise straight up and sizzle.
- Raisins need no more than five seconds in the oil. Lift them out the moment they puff, or they turn bitter.
- Sprinkle the salt and sugar when the chevdo is just warm, not piping hot. Warm is when the seasoning sticks. On fully cold chevdo it simply slides to the bottom.
Questions people ask
My chevdo went soft the next day. Why?
Some warmth was still in it when it went into the tin. The trapped steam cools into water. Spread it on a wide plate and give it a full hour to cool before you close the lid.
Can I make this a week ahead?
Fry the potato, peanuts and coconut and keep them in a tin, where they last eight to ten days. Add the raisins, salt, sugar and pepper on the day you eat it. Chevdo mixed and stored complete goes soft sooner, because the salt draws moisture.
Are curry leaves allowed on a fast?
That depends on your family's practice. Some homes allow curry leaves and pepper in farali food, others do not. If yours does not, leave them out. The taste barely changes; you lose a little of the aroma.
