Gaarelu is an authentic healthy and delicious dish popular in Andhra/Rayalaseema region for Diwali festival. They have a soft texture with a nice color and of course not being overly sweet. This recipe has been passed down through many generations in my family. This is very easy to make with just a few steps. Even though Gaarelu are served with ghee but they taste great as is!! This is an item the whole family can relish and forces you to make again… I bet!.

Highlights of this recipe: Healthy, easy to make, absorbs very less oil, great flavor, tasty, great for teatime, can’t stop eating and good shelf life and leftover dough can be refrigerated, for up to 2 months. This helps you make fresh, hot gaarelu whenever you wish to eat.

These appear very similar to Ariselu but just half the process to make it. You also can make perfect gaarelu if you follow the procedure as is!!

step by step photo instructions

Making dough:

1. Add wheat flour to a glass or steel bowl.
2. Add jaggery and water in a seperate steel vessel. Put it on the stove and boil it only until the jaggery melts. Do not over cook.

3. Pour the melted jaggery(syrup) onto the wheat flour using a strainer to remove impurities.

4. Mix the contents well with a ladle/wisk until flour and syrup mix very well to form dough. Dough shouldn’t be too hard.

5. Close and Keep the dough aside for 1-2 days on the kitchen counter.

6. Next day knead the dough with hand. If the dough is still hard, sprinkle a few teaspoons of water and knead well.

Making Gaarelu:

1. Dab a few poppy seeds on each side of the dough sphere.

2. place the dough sphere on a greased plastic cover/film (eg. Ziploc) or smooth paper.

3. Coat your fingers with water and press and spread into a ~2″ wide and 2 mm thick circle with your fingers uniformly (make 4-5 at a time) and fry in the hot oil till golden color.

4. While frying, keep sprinkling oil (it helps it to puff up) with ladle on the Gaare. Repeat same on the other side.

5. Keep it in the oil for a short time to get soft texture, deep fry just 10 sec each side, drain them on the paper towel. Enjoy!!

Note: Don’t fry for too long as they will become hard after cooling. Add 1 at a time.

5. They taste good by themselves and can be served as a tea time snack or they can be served with ghee.

Tips

1. Store them in any box. They will be good for a few days.
2. Refrigerate the leftover batter in an air tight container for later use. It will be good for months. Do not keep it in the refrigerator door.
3. Take the batter out of the fridge and let it thaw to room temperature. Then follow above procedure to make fresh hot gaarelu again.