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Karthigai Vella Pori

Karthigai Vella Pori

A festive crunchy snack of jaggery, sweetened puffed beaten rice flakes with coconut and cardamom. Made for Karthigai Deepam or South India's Festival of Lights.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine Indian
Servings 1 large batch

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced bits of fresh coconut
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered jaggery
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 5 to 6 cardamom pods powdered
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 5 cups puffed beaten rice flakes aval pori

Instructions
 

  • Start by melting the 1 tbsp ghee in a pan. Add the coconut pieces and sauté over medium heat till the coconut turns golden brown. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
  • Take a large pot or wok. You need this to comfortably mix everything. Over medium heat, dissolve the powdered jaggery in the water. Turn the heat off and pour the liquid through a sieve to remove any impurities that might be in the jaggery.
  • Return the liquid back to the pot or wok after rinsing it out. Bring it to a boil, and turn down the heat a bit. Keep stirring occasionally and let it cook till frothy and a little thick and syrupy.
  • Put a few drops of the syrup in a small shallow plate of water. Use your fingers to roll thesyrup into a soft ball that holds shape. This is called the “soft ball stage” of syrup. If it is not ready, cook the syrup till it reaches this consistency. If you want to make balls or laddoo, cook the syrup a little further to the “hard ball stage”.
  • You cannot shape balls/urundai in this consistency. For making balls, you should boil jaggery syrup till it reaches hard ball consistency.
  • Mix in the powdered browned coconut pieces, cardamom and 2 tbsp ghee. Turn off the heat. Stir in the puffed beaten rice flakes or Aval Pori. Keep folding the mixture intl it is uniformaly coated with the jaggery syrup.
    Karthikai Valla Pori
  • It will look sticky and shiny. Let it cool. Once it has cooled down, it will separate and become crunchy to eat. Transfer to an airtight container. This Vella Pori will keep for about a week