Ukkarai : Traditional sweet for deepavali

What you need

Chana dal: 1 cup

Jaggery: 1 cup

Grated coconut: 1/3 cup

Ghee/Clarified butter: 2 tablespoon

Cashew: 1/5 cup

Water: ½ cup

Cardamom: 3 no

How I made

Dry roast the chana dal for about 7 minutes or until its raw smell is gone. Then wash and soak the chana dal for 3hours and drain them in to colander and set aside for 30 minutes so that water will be drained as much as possible.

Grind them into fine paste without adding any water. Steam cook the ground paste for about 25 minutes or until they are well cooked.

In a thick bottomed pan add jaggery and water, when jaggery melts completely remove them from the fire and strain it to remove impurities.

Grind the coconut into a coarse powder ( this step is optional). Set aside. This step will help to get uniform texture of chan dal mixture and coconut.

Reheat the jaggery water when it become soft ball stage add cooked chana dal paste along with coconut and cook them until it becomes powdery mass. Add ghee except 1 teaspoon in small amount to the above mixture of chana dal-jaggery-coconut. It takes about 10- 15 minutes in slow flame.

In a small pan heat 1 teaspoon of ghee and add cashew and fry them until they become golden color. Add these cashews to Ukkarai and switch off the flame.

Enjoy as much you wish. It is really tough to stop eating them.