Okkarai - Iyer's sweet delicacy

   Okkarai is a sweet made for Diwali. But I chose to make it last week. Well I don't want to experiment something new on Diwali day. So better try it ahead and gain some experience :) Luckily it did turn out very well. I observed there are two ways to do it, but I went with the way that was considered laborious, but it turned out reasonably easy for me. I personally didn't find it cumbersome at all. So here goes this recipe for those with sweet tooth.

        Though it takes between 20 to 30 mts of cooking to get this done. I did it along with making my lunch in my kitchen, so didn't feel the boredom of doing it. So when you multi task Okkarai with other activities ( that permits sufficient focus on stirring Okkarai) you will not feel the labor involved.

Ingredients: 

           Channa Dal - 1 Cup
           Jaggery  - 1 Cup
           Ghee  - 1 Cup
           cashews, almonds, raisins, and other dry fruits of your choice
           Cardamom

Way to go:

• Soak Chana dal in boiled water for 3 to 4 hours. Once soaked drain the water thoroughly.
• Break the jaggery into powder with a mortar
• Grind Chana dal and Jaggery in a grinder into fine paste. Do not add water while grinding.
• Heat two to three spoons of Ghee in a kadai in low medium flame, and once hot fry the dry fruits without burning them. I used Medium burner in my stove to get this done.
• And reduce heat to low flame. You will continue cooking in low flame till you finish the whole recipe. Never rush and increase the heat at any point. Patience pays. 
• Quickly add the Chana dal and Jaggery paste to the kadai, and stir and mix well. Sprinkle elaichi powder little for flavor and mix well.
• Continue cooking in low flame and keep stirring well, and ensure the paste do not stick to the Kadai. If it does, scrape it with totally with your spatula as you stir.
• Every three to four minutes, add one or two spoons of melted ghee, and stir well. Adding ghee helps the mixture to cook and also helps the paste from sticking to the kadai. If you let it stick the kadai, the one stuck to kadai can turn brown and get burnt as you cook. So we should avoid it.
• You will continue stirring ( to avoid sticking) and in between if you find it sticking you will add spoonful of Ghee. This is what you will go on doing, and approximately after 15 mts you will observe your paste with wet lumps gradually becoming dry and moving towards powdery consistency. At this stage you will no more have to add Ghee as it will not stick to the kadai.
• Continue cooking and stirring in low flame, at one point your okkarai will be done and you will see that it no more sticking to kadai even without adding ghee and you will see it as dry powdery consistency with very less tiny lumps. That is ok if we tiny-tiny lumps are there end of it. And when you touch it will not stick to your hands.You can turn off the stove at this point
• Your sweet okkarai is ready to serve. And enjoy having it.