In Telugu, Ukkara means the first solid food made out of soaked and ground rice (rice sooji). So I was intrigued by the name Ukkarai. When Jayanthi posed this as a challenge as part of Week 4 of BM #37, I was glad to check it out for myself what it was!!
This makes a very unique sweet which can be used as 'naivedyam' (offering to God). It tastes a lot like the Poornam which we make for Puran Poli/Bobbattu etc.
Recipe Source - here
Ingredients -
Chana Dal 1/2 cup
Moong Dal 1/2 cup
Jaggery, powdered 1 cup
Coconut, grated 1 tsp (Optional)
Cashews, fried in ghee, a handful
Ghee 1 tsp
Cardamom Powder 1/2 tsp
Method Of Preparation -
In a heated pan, dry roast the chana dal and moong dal separately until they turn a shade brown.
Remove from fire and soak in water for 2-3 hrs. (If you are in a hurry, soak the dals in hot water for about 45 min).
Drain and coarsely grind the dals adding as little water as possible.
Steam the coarsely ground mixture by spreading out the mixture on a plate or in idli plates. (I steamed for about 15-17 min)
Remove and upon cooling, coarse grind so there are no big lumps.
In a heated pan, add ghee and roast the cashews until golden brown and set aside.
In the same pan, heat the powdered jaggery with a couple tablespoons of water until it froths up and is almost getting to a single string consistency.
Slowly add the ground up mixture into the simmering syrup and mix well until blended.
Add about a teaspoon of ghee, grated coconut (if using) and cook the mixture for about 10-12 min stirring in between so the undersides don't burn.
Remove after a bread crumb like consistency is achieved and garnish with fried cashews
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37.
Preparation Time Soaking time upto 2 hrs, cooking time 20 min
Makes approx 1 cup
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The list of ingredients are similar to puran. The end result look great.
very flavorful and delicious ukkari :) looks yumm dear !!
Lovely and delicious to look at ukkarai. Wonderfully prepared.
Deepa
Beautifully presented,u made me hungry dear..Loved it ,superb!!
Very new dish to me !
That is such a yummy looking dessert.
flavorful sweet for sure
the never ending variety of sweets astounds me. I will have to try this as it has such nutricious ingredients for a dessert.
Wow it so awesome. Love the colour.
Harini, I never knew about the telugu word for solids till now..thanks..:)..that's a delicious sweet..