FOOD : Sweet Bites : Mando

Mando's - each is a quarter of a disc-4 layers and crunchy!! 

'If its no sugar, then throw it out!!'

I have developed a very strong sweet tooth offlate (Those horrible days and nights with my molar's and regular visit to the orthodontist in the recent past was proof enough)... and this is one of my favourites-Mando as we call it and Mandige as how Kannadiga's call it.
This is one of the very traditional Konkani Sweets. Its mildly sweet, i like it that way... its basically made out of Maida/Flour coated with sugar powder. Delectably crunchy and sweet!! :)
2 Steps into this :
a. making rolls of the flour
b. coating the same with sugar powder

For a. You will need
2 cups of Maida/Flour-you will end up with around 17-18 mando's
Milk to mix if you prefer/Water
little salt.
Ghee(my addition)

Take the Flour in a mixing bowl, add salt and mix well. Add 1 spoon of ghee and add warm milk/water and mix to make a dough. Let the dough be slightly tight. Make around 1-1.5" dia balls and roll them out real thin, with a rolling pin. You can use flour when you are rolling them out.

For b. You will need
2 cups of sugar
1/2-3/4th cup of Poha/Beaten rice (I used the thin poha)
Cardamom Powder

Fry the poha well till crisp(not brown though). Add this to the sugar in a blender and make a fine powder and keep it ready on a plate. Add cardamom powder and mix.

Procedure:
Once your Flour rolls/discs ready, let the oil get heated up (I add a spoon of ghee in the oil in which I'm frying anything sweet). You need to fry these on a good flame, but not very high either. So you take each one of the discs, drop it in oil, fry them on both sides not for long, till you think its just going to get crisp. Remove it immediately. Immediately put it on the sugar plate, coat one side of the disc with sugar, again immediately, fold into half, again coat the top layer with sugar powder, fold again into a quarter-immediately and coat with sugar powder.
Notice how many times I said 'immediately'... i really insist that it has to be done immediately, cause the discs could get crisp and you wont be able to fold it and they wont stay as 4 layers held together. You will have 4 separate quarters when you are trying to fold them otherwise! :) Its better you have someone to help you if you are doing this for the first time.

4 Layers with sugar coating

That's it.. It's ready!! :) quite simple and easy, the trick is to fold those discs when hot and just out of the oil and coat them with sugar. They are simply delicious and please count on how many you are bolting down... All chances you can go and on!! I do! ;)