Rosebud

Rosebud reminds me of those gorgeous sugar coated fritters that were sold at the fair near to our locality in Kolkata. I don’t know how many of you have heard of Chandimela organized every year by the descendants of zamindar Srabono Roy Chowdhury, but it was a famous funfair in Behala-Thakurpur region where people from different corners of Kolkata assembled to celebrate Chandi Pujo. The deity 'Chandi' is another incarnation of goddess Kali and the zamindar family has been worshipping Chandi for over 100 years. The fair, held in honour of Chandi Devi, still takes place every year in the month of December, but with time the fair has lost its previous charm and glory. Bursting with enthusiasm, we used to start saving money one month prior to the beginning of the fair and once the fair was set up, we indulged ourselves in buying varieties of fancy items that drew our attention. The fast-food joints, the rides and death-well shows where four or five bikers used to perform different life-threatening dangerous stunts to amuse visitors were huge crowd-pullers. The fair, lasting merely two weeks, used to leave us amid a feeling of sorrow, a kind of sadness associated only with the end of Durga Puja. Such was its effect on us. I have so many memories attached with Chandimela. The faintest one was of my first visit, when barely a toddler, I was sprinting to the fair holding the hands of my parents and the gleam of merry go round revolving in distance caught my eyes. I was totally taken in awe by such a magnificent rotating wheel carrying people shrieking in excitement. That was the beginning of my long-lasting connection with Chandimela; not only me, all the other children staying in that region were equally boisterous about the same. The appellation 'Rosebud' stands true to its name as the fritters generously coated with sugar resemble rose buds. It was an instant hit at my home when the first time I made it. A jar full of rose petals was put away within few minutes. The good thing about rosebud is you can prepare it in spadeful and store in a jar for weeks.   Ingredients: ü  2 cups of all-purpose flour ü  White oil for cooking ü  a pinch of salt ü  Powdered sugar as per need Method: 1) In a wok heat oil till it becomes smoking hot. 2) In a bowl mix a pinch of salt with all-purpose flour. Add the hot oil (around 3/4 cup) & water to the flour and mix in properly to get soft dough. 3) Divide the dough into large round balls. Using a rolling pin, make chapatis of uniform size. 4) With the help of a knife cut the chapatis into squares. Make three slits on each of the squares just as shown in the pic below: 5) Roll up the squares and join them at the sides leaving an opening in the top part. 6) Deep fry the squares in smoking hot oil till they turn golden brown in color. Take them in a bowl. 7) Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and mix well. It is ready to be served.