Chettinad Ukkarai
Chettinad Ukkarai is a traditional South Indian dessert that originates from the Chettinad region in Tamil Nadu, India. This dish is typically made during festive occasions and special events. The main ingredients for Ukkarai include moong dal, rava, jaggery (unrefined cane sugar), grated coconut, and ghee (clarified butter). The moong dal is roasted and pressure cooked until mushy, and then cooked with rava, grated coconut and jaggery syrup until it reaches a halwa texture. The mixture is then garnished with cardamom powder, and roasted cashew nuts for added flavor and texture. Ukkarai is known not only for its delicious taste but also for being a nutritious sweet due to the high protein content from the moong dal and the natural sweetener, jaggery.
Check out how to make this traditional sweet delicacy Chettinad ukkarai recipe below.
Ingredients
Moong dal-1 cup
Rava-1/4 cup
Grated coconut -1/4 cup
Jaggery -1&1/2 cup
Cardamom powder-1/4 tsp
Cashews--handful
Ghee-2-3 tbsps
Chettinad Ukkarai Recipe Video
Method
👉In a pressure cooker add moong dal roast in medium heat until golden brown colour, wash well and add 1 1/2 cups of water and pressure cooker for 4 whistles, switch off the gas and allow pressure to subside.
👉Mash the cooked dal lightly set aside.
👉Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a kadai add cashews and fry until golden brown set aside.
👉In the same ghee add rava and roast in medium heat until light brown colour, next add grated coconut and roast lightly.
👉Now add in the cooked moong dal and mix everything well.
👉Add cardamom powder and jaggery syrup mix well.
👉Cook in medium heat until the mixture forms a nonsticky mass leaving the sides of the kadai for about 5-7 minutes adding ghee in between.
👉Add the fried cashews mix well.
👉Switch off the gas.
✍️For Jaggery syrup
Dissolve 1 &1/2 cups of jaggery in 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil strain and set aside simple jaggery syrup is ready
Preparation Time-20 minutes
Serves-4-5
Tags
indiansweets