Palak Sev (Spinach Shev)

Shev or Sev is one of the festive foods made during Diwali.  This year I prepared Palak Sev adding Palak puree and it turned out good.

Ingredients:
Palak/Spinach Leaves - about 2 cups
Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour/Besan - about 2 cups
Carom Seeds/Ajwain/Owa - 1 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder/Cayenne Pepper - 1 tsp
Chat Masala or Aamchur Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - about 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil

Method:
1. Puree/Blend the washed spinach leaves in a blender/mixer.  Add little water if required.  Crush the carom seeds in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. 
2. In a mixing bowl, add spinach puree, carom seeds powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric, chat masala, sugar and salt.  Mix well.  Now add chickpea flour little by little to form a soft dough.  The dough must not be too sticky.  Add about 2 tsp oil and knead well for 2 - 3 minutes.  Cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
3. You can add 1/8 tsp baking soda to the dough as well.  I do not prefer adding baking soda, since shev absorbs more oil.

4. Grease the chakali/shev mold with few drops of oil.  Stuff the mold with gram flour dough.
5. Heat enough oil for deep frying in a kadhai/wok.  Hold the shev mold above the kadhai and press (or turn depending on the mold) and deep fry the shev.  Be careful while turning the mold because of hot oil.  Safer alternative would be to press the shev on paper towels and then add in hot oil.
6. Palak Shev is ready to binge as a snack.