UKKARAI (ஒக்காரை)

Ukkarai / Okkarai (ஒக்காரை) is a Traditional South Indian Sweet belonging to Madurai and Thirunelveli regions that is made during Deepavali .
Jaggery, Coconut are used in this Protein rich dish. 

During Deepavali its rainy season in South India and this sweet can give warmth and energy in that wet and chill weather.

ஒக்காரை

Ingredients Needed:-

1.  Channa Dal (Kadalaiparuppu) 3/4 cup

2.  Moong Dal (Paasi Paruppu/Payatham Paruppu ) 1/4 cup

3.  Jaggery 1 cup

4.  Water 1/4 cup

5.  Grated Coconut 1/2cup

6.  Cashew Nuts 12 nos (Broken into small pieces)

7.  Ghee 1/2 cup + 2 tsp

8.  Elaichi Powder 1/4 tsp

Method:-

1.  Dry Roast the Dal for a while and soak in water for 1 hour. (Small amount of Ghee can be used for this.) 

2.  Grind into coarse paste.

3.  Heat Ghee 1/4 cup + one tablespoon and fry the dal paste.
Keep the stove in medium flame, otherwise the dal mixture will get burnt, till it resembles like bread crumbs.(by this time dal would have been cooked well.) To get this consistency, add the ghee little by little.

4.  In another vessel put jaggery and water stir and cook till jaggery melts, strain this syrup .

5.  Again boil the jaggery syrup till thickens. For testing keep water in a cup and pour the jaggery syrup, it should not dissolve or dissipate. It should settle at the bottom nicely. (Check photo)

6.  To test whether it's done correctly in small plate put dal mixuture on that pour few drops of syrup and mix the dal and syrup. If they merge nicely, its good. If you see little water in that mixture after adding syrup, then the syrup needs a few more minutes of boil.

7. Now in dal mixture pour jaggery syrup little by little and mix well.
At this stage add remaining ghee.

8. In pan heat 2 tsp of Ghee to fry Cashew nut till golden, then add grated coconut and fry till light brown.

9. Add this Cashew Coconut mixture and elaichi powder to the cooked ukkarai and mix well.

Try this dish for the Upcoming Deepavali..

Will You ?