Bhutte Ki Kis (grated sweet corn snack)

As a kid I have spent most of my summer vacations in Indore, MP. Playing marbles in the back alleys of Raj Mohalla, running around with my friends at the Ramakrishna Park, renting cheap but innovative bikes from Kabaadi and eating some really really good food both at home and from street vendors...especially the vendors at Sarafa. Sarafa is a shopping heaven for ladies ...its a maze of crowded narrow streets jutted with shops for gold ornaments, cloths, kitchen appliances and of course street vendors lined up with tangy, sweet and spicy food designed especially to pleasure women. The last part is probably the only satisfying thing for men while their pockets are getting emptied. The line up of snacks is pretty exciting Kachodi, Samosa, Dahi Vada, Patise, Gulab Jamun, Rabri, Usal Poha, Bhutte Ki Kis, Moong ka halwa and the Meetha Paan. You can find many of these at many other places but the warmth and taste of Sarafa is probably the gold standard.

Here I have the recipe of Bhutte Ki Kis which is a creamy, tangy and sweet dish made out of grated corn and milk. Let me clarify once... the Kis or Kees or Khees here means grated...so Bhutte ki Kees is made out of grated sweet corn. In Sarafa stores they sprinkle a special cumin spice mix called zeeramal... I am not sure what that mixture is so at home we use a little chaat masala to sprinkle on the top...all right so here is the recipe -

Bhutte Ki Kis

Ingredients

• 4 sweet corns

• 1 cup grated dry coconut
• 1/2 litre whole milk
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 10-15 curry leaves
• 5 chopped green chilies
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1 tablespoon of oil/ghee
• 1/2 tea spoon of salt
• 1/2 lemon
• coriander leaves for garnishing
• zeeramal/chaat masala

Preparation

1. Finely grate 4 sweet corns. Do not grate too deep into the cob of the corn... otherwise finally the taste of the dish might become a little bitter.
2. Heat up 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a deep pan, add grated corn and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour around 1/2 liter of whole milk, mix and let it cook for a while (about 15-20 mins). Keep stirring and see that the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. When the mixture becomes a little dense add 1 cup of grated coconut, a pinch of turmeric and around 1/2 tea spoon of salt. We don't put  a lot of salt in this dish... so try to keep it a little low.
5. Continue cooking to get the mixture to a semi solid consistency.
6. Now ready the tempering (tadka) - in a small frying pan heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds...then add chopped green chilies and curry leaves. See that it doesn't get burnt.
7. Mix the tempering (tadka) to the cooked grated corn.
8. Thats it...Bhutte Ki Kis is ready...serve it warm and you can garnish with chat masala/zeeramal, chopped coriander, grated coconut and lemon.

My mom taught me this recipe and I have always loved it. Try it out...and let me know if you like it.