Okkarai recipe with Video – Updated

Okkarai | Ukkarai is a traditional sweet made in most of the tamil brahmin houses for diwali. I still remember my mom makes this in a very bulk quantity and except me everybody loves this okkarai very much. When i was talking to my mom yesterday, suddenly i remembered of this and asked her for the recipe. In my in –laws place we don’t make this ,and i made this for my hubby who is very fond of sweets. Here comes the recipe of okkarai. Check out my complete collection of Diwali recipes.

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 Preparation Time : 10  mins + 3 hrs soaking  | Cooking Time : 40 Mins | Serves: 3-4

   Channa dal 1/2 cup    Moong dal 2 tblsp    Jaggery 1/2 cup + 2tblsp *    Cashew nuts few    Ghee 2 tblsp *Add 2 tblsp extra only if you are adding moong dal                      Video of okkarai recipe

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Method:

  • Dry roast the channa dal and moong dal in a pan for 2 mins(be careful not to burn this)
  • Soak it in water for 3 hours.
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  • Drain the water and grind this into a smooth paste .Just add 1 tblsp of water while grinding.
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  • Grease idli plates with ghee and transfer the ground dal to this and steam this for 12 mins.
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  • After steaming, break it into pieces and once it is cool, pulse it in a mixer to get a make it into fine pieces.
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  • In a pan put the jaggery and add 2 tblsp of water to this.
  • Dissolve the jaggery.
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  • Filter the impurities if any. Keep the flame low.
  • Let the jaggery melt and comes to 1 string consistency.
  • You can check this by taking the jaggery syrup between the thumb and the index finger.
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  • When it reaches this stage , add the ground dal to this and mix it nicely.
  • Add few tsp of ghee in the middle also while cooking.
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  • Cook in a medium flame,till it becomes soft and reaches a puttu or usili consistency.
  • The consistency should be like a beach sand. At the same time it should be soft.
  • It took 15 mins for me to reach this stage.
  • Fry cashews in ghee and garnish the okkarai with cashews.
  • Mix well.
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  • Enjoy this as it is.
  • Though this may sound weird my mom and grandma will eat this as an accompaniment for CURD RICE.
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Note:

  1. Some may skip the procedure of steaming the ground dal.
  2. But this will take more time to get cooked .
  3. Adding moong dal is optional. My mom’s recipe is without the addition of moong dal.
  4. Recently in Instagram, when i saw Shanti aunty posted using moong dal, i just tried and it turned out well.