Ukkarai - My 100th Post

This is my 100th post! Can you believe that? I really can’t believe it. I still remember the day, I wrote my first post and waited eagerly for somebody to drop by and leave a comment, but then I was very naïve. I did not realize that for somebody to know that I and my space existed I had to visit others too. But as days went by I also learnt. Now I can boast of 100+ followers and a good readership. Let’s leave all the statistics aside.

 During the past 10 months I have learnt quite a few things, from taking better pictures, (though I have to still improve a lot on it) to writing better posts, and also a few technical aspects. Another good thing is that I have successfully tried out quite a few recipes which I thought I would never do. I would like to thank all my readers and blogger friends who have supported me by visiting my space and leaving their valuable feedback.

Thought of posting a sweet for my 100th post! So here is Ukkarai or Okkarai. This is a simple sweet dish very popular during Diwali. Though it is supposed to be a common Palakkad Iyer recipe, my grandmother and mother never made this. It was only after my marriage that I got introduced to this dish. A healthy protein packed sweet dish, made out of Channa dal/Bengal gram dal and jaggery. So here is the recipe.

  What you’ll need:

 1. Kadalai Paruppu/Bengal Gram Dal – 1 cup
2. Powdered jaggery - 1 cup
3. Cardamom – 4 to 5
4. Cashewnuts and raisins – few
5. Ghee/ Clarified Butter – 1 tbsp

Method

 1. Dry roast the Bengal gram dal in a Kadai, till the dal becomes light brown and a nice aroma starts emanating.
2. Soak this roasted dal in water for about ½ hour to 45 minutes.
3. Cook the dal with just enough water in a pressure cooker for about 2 whistles. Dal should be just cooked and not mushy.
4. After the pressure from the cooker is released, remove the cooked dal and put it in a strainer so that all the water is drained. Let it cool.
5. Powder the dal in a blender and keep it aside.
6. In the meanwhile, heat a Kadai and add the powdered jaggery with about 1/3 cup of water. Let the jaggery dissolve completely.
7. Strain for impurities.
8. Heat the jaggery water on medium flame till Kallupakkam is achieved.
9. To check for the pakam, keep a small bowl of water, add a drop of the jaggery syrup in the water, then gather it and roll it into a ball, now throw that into the bowl, you should hear a good sound.
10. Now add the powdered dal and stir well continuously for 5 to 7 minutes or till bread crumb like texture is obtained.
11. Finally, heat a small frying pan with ghee, fry the cashew nuts and raisins and add it to the ukkarai along with the ghee. Mix well.

That’s it, yummy ukkarai is ready.

 Linking this recipe to MLLA - 40 hosted by Suma started by Susan.