Photo: Prakrutim · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Maharashtra · Dessert

Chirote

Crisp, delicate, deep-fried pastry puffs made from refined flour and ghee — layered like flaky pastry through a ghee-and-semolina rolling technique, then dusted with fine powdered sugar and sometimes filled with a hint of cardamom. A Diwali and wedding essential in Pune and Kolhapur, with a texture that shatters between the teeth into dozens of paper-thin layers.

🧺 Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 g) maida (refined flour / all-purpose flour)
• 2 tbsp fine semolina (rava)
• 3 tbsp ghee (for kneading)
• Warm water as needed (~80–100 ml)
• Pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp fine semolina (rava)
• 3 tbsp ghee (melted)
• Mix these together into a thick paste
• Oil for deep frying (enough for 3-inch depth)
• ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar (for dusting)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder (mixed into powdered sugar)
• Roll each coin gently; aggressive rolling collapses the layers

👩‍🍳 How to make Chirote

1. Combine maida, rava, salt and 3 tbsp ghee in a bowl.
2. Rub the ghee into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs (this is the moyan/shortening step).
3. Gradually add warm water, kneading to form a moderately stiff dough — stiffer than chapati but not as stiff as puri dough.
4. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth.
5. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
6. Divide dough into 4 equal balls.
7. Working one ball at a time, roll into a thin 10-inch round (as thin as possible, 1–2 mm).
8. Spread a generous layer of the rava-ghee paste (mohan) evenly across the entire surface — about 1 tbsp per sheet.
9. Stack all 4 rolled sheets on top of each other with paste between each layer.
10. Roll the stacked sheets up into a tight log (like a Swiss roll / jelly roll).
11. Slice the log into 2-cm-wide coins.
12. Flatten each coin slightly with your palm.
13. Then gently re-roll each coin into a 3-inch round — the layering will be visible as spirals. *Handle gently — the layers are fragile.*
14. Heat oil in a kadhai over medium heat (165–170°C — test with a small piece of dough; it should rise slowly, not instantly).
15. Slide 3–4 chirote at a time into the oil.
16. Fry on low-medium heat for 3–4 minutes per side, turning carefully, until uniformly light golden — not brown.
17. The slow frying is essential for the layers to separate and puff.
18. Remove with a slotted spoon.
19. Drain on paper towels.
20. Cool for 2 minutes.
21. Mix powdered sugar with cardamom powder.
22. While chirote are still warm (not hot), dust generously on all sides.
23. The sugar adheres to the slightly oily surface.
24. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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