Okkarai

This sweet was not at all familiar to me until my hubby told me that this is one of his favourite sweet.
I tried a couple of times with different methods and finally got this sweet right by this method. I'm really really happy that i got it right after some tries and also my hubby was totally happy to have this sweet :).

Ingredients
1 cup Channa Dal (Kadalai paruppu)
1 1/4 cup Jaggery 
2-3 tablespoons of Ghee
8-10 Cashews
A pinch of Cardamom powder

Method

• Roast the cashews in a teaspoon of ghee and set aside.
• Soak channa dal in water for about 3-4 hours.
• Drain the water and coarsely grind it. (Do not grind into smooth paste).
• Grease the pan with a teaspoon of ghee and add the coarsely grind channa dal and allow it to steam each side for about 5 mins in low flame. (As shown in pic1).

Pic 1

•  Allow it to cool and shred (As shown in Pic2).

Pic 2

• Again powder the shredded Channa dal.
• In a separate pan add the powdered Jaggery with a spoon of water and allow it to turn to a syrup consistency.
• Filter the impurities and again boil the Jaggery syrup.
• The syrup should reach to a thin string consistency.
• (String consistency is nothing but when you touch the Jaggery syrup between the thumb and index finger you will notice that the syrup will form a thin string).
• For attaining the one string consistency it doesn't take much time.
• Add the Channa dal powder to the syrup and also the roasted cashews and 1 tablespoon of ghee. Stir well.
• In low flame stir the channa dal mixture for about 12-15 mins and finally add the Cardamon powder when it reaches to puttu consistency.
• Okkarai is ready to be served.

A closer look of okkarai 

Note
The general ratio for Okkarai is 1:1 that is one cup of channa dal and one cup of jaggery but i felt the sweetness is low so added extra, if you want less sweet you can go with 1:1.