KamarKat....A sweet with Jaggery n Coconut

Last week on a casual talk my elder daughter was asking me about the snacks which I took during the school days.I was explaining her about the snacks which we had ..like Kadalai Burfi/Chikki,Kamarkat,ElanthamPazham,Then Mittai,KodikaPuli,Javvu Mittai,Panchi Mittai,Sonpapdi etc..

 

She was more excited by the name kamarkat and kept asking more details about the sweet.I vaguely remembered how it tasted too...As I couldnot give more details on it she called up her grandma and was asking the details...Only then I knew that my mom knew to make kamarkat :).Immediately I grabbed the mobile from her and got the recipe ..

 

Made it,relished it and gave my kids  a feel of this evertime favourite kamarkattu..

 

For the ones who are not aware of this sweet..It resembles much to a hard chocolate which is made of jaggery and coconut.It is a jaw breaker..Don't even take a chance to bite the sweet.Just put it into ur mouth and enjoy it getting dissolved slowly..

 

For the recipe click READ MORE below:

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Make:8-9 Nos.

 

1/4 Cup of Grated coconut/Dry coconut

1 Tsp of Ghee(To roast the coconut)

3/4 Cup of grated Jaggery

1/2 Tsp of Cardamom Powder

3-4 Tbsp of water

2-3 Tbsp  of Rice flour

 

 

 

PROCEDURE:

 

 

 

Heat a pan.

Add 1 Tsp of ghee to it.Let it melt.

Then add grated coconut to it and saute it .Saute it well so that it becomes dry.

If u are using dry coconut then no need to saute it.

Keep it aside so that it gets cooled

Keep the rice flour ready in a plate nearby.

 

 

Take the grated jaggery in a wide pan.

Add water(about 3-4 Tbsp) and mix it well.

Let the Jaggery gets dissolved in water.

Simultaneously keep ready a bowl and a strainer to strain the jaggery water.

 

 

Strain the jaggery water to remove the impurities.

Then again keep the jaggery water on stove and heat it.

Bring it to boil.

 

Now check the consistency.Take a small bowl with water.

Drop in a drop of the boiling jaggery water and try to make ball from the dropped in jaggery.If u are able to make balls then the consistency is right.(a little more than the chikki consistency--hard ball consistency)

Switch off the flame.

Immediately add cardamom powder.

 

 

Then add grated coconut and mix well.

Mix it soon.Don't delay in mixing coconut and cardamom powder.Or else the mixture will solidify.

Keep a plate ready with the rice flour.

Take a scoop of the jaggery n coconut mixture and drop it on the rice flour.

 

Mix it well in the rice flour and immediately make it into a small ball.All these should happen at a faster rate or else the mixture will turn very thick at a quicker pace.

First make shapes out of the mixture.Dont worry even if u end up in irregular shapes..U can correct the shapes finally..Then finally again make a nice finish to the rolled balls.Now roll it tighly.Grease it with rice flour to avoid sticking ..

 

Cool it and Store it in an air tight container.

 

 

 

HANDY TIPS:

 

 

• The consistency of the jaggery syrup is very important.It should be in hard ball consistency.If u want it little chewy then take it in soft ball consistency.But Hard ball will only taste good!!
• U can decrease the amount of grated coconut.
• The colour of the sweet depends on the colour of the jaggery.
• Instead of jaggery u can use Palm Jaggery too
• It would be hard to clean the vessels after finishing the dish.Just leave them soaked in water for some time.Jaggery stains will get dissolved.Then u can so the cleaning..
• Roll the balls at a faster rate as the mixture solidifies very quickly!!
• U can make the same in microwave too!!
• If u add more water to the jaggery then it will take more time to get the consistency..
• Use generous amount of rice flour to avoid sticking of the sweets with each other.
• The mixture will be too hot to handle.So grease ur hand also with rice flour.So roll the balls carefully without buring ur hands..