Kakara

"Well how do you call yourself a cook when you do not know how to make Kakara ?" That was Aai's (maternal grand mom) expert comment when she saw my blog. Yah you read it right .... Aai belongs to the cyber era. She knows it all - Orkut,Gmail,Blogging ! .... I hung my head low while talking to her over the phone. She tried explaining me the recipe for Kakara ..... along with it came the gyan of why it is so important to Odiyas' and stories from mythology etc etc.

In short this is a traditional sweet from Odisha and is delicious. Talk about it to a fellow Odiya and you will know.

All these years I was only bothered eating .... never cared to ask anybody about the recipe.How can someone expect me to know such complicated stuff ..... I have the excuse of belonging to generation X ..... or whatever !!

Even after an hour long bashing I could not gather enough courage to prepare this dish all by myself.

I picked up the phone and called Sangeeta Bhabi. She lives a stone throw away. We share a special bond .... we both belong to the same place.

Frankly I felt a little awkward in asking her to prepare it, knowing the amount of time and effort it needs. But I did it ..... she was generous enough to give me a demo of it. I offered to help her with it so that I could learn along. I can't thank her enough for teaching me this wonderful recipe. Not to forget I had my share of eating it too :-)

Well with Kakara up on my blog, I hope Aai approves my cooking ! Thanks a ton to Sangeeta Bhabi, I know how to make Kakara :-)

With Janmastami around the corner, this is a great recipe to be tried out.

Preparation Time - 1 hour

Serves - 4

Ingredients

Semolina - 2 cups

Water - 4

Sugar - 1.75 cups

Salt per taste

Cardamon - 10

Fennel Seeds - 1tsp

Grated Coconut -1 cup

Whole black pepper - 10

Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1 Take 4 cups of water in a deep vessel and bring it to a rolling boil.

2 Add sugar (1.5 cups) and salt to the water and stir well till they dissolve continuously.

3 Slowly add semolina. Stir continuously till the water gets absorbed.

4 Make sure there are no lumps formed.
5 Spread it to a plate.
6 When the semolina mixture cools down make a soft dough using very little oil and water.
7 Pinch out small balls. Roll between your palm to make smooth balls. Keep aside.
For the stuffing
1 Pour little ( 1 tsp) oil or ghee in a pan.

2 Add the grated coconut to it.

3 Also add remaining sugar, crushed cardamom powder, crushed pepper and fennel seeds.

4 Fry till golden brown.

5 Remove to a plate and let it cool.

How to do the stuffing

1 Grease your hands with some oil. Take a ball and make a deep depression in between ( make it like a cup) using your fingers.

2 Put a little of the stuffing and close the ball. (Something similar to the process of stuffing potato while preparing alu paratha.

3 Make it a bit flat.

Frying

Heat some oil in a kadhai. When hot, drop these stuffed balls one by one. Fry till brown. Remove on a kitchen towel.

Serving Tips

Serve at room temperature.

Notes

Do not make the dough extra soft, else it will be difficult yo stuff it.

Do not put more stuffing, else the crust may break and the stuffing may come out.

Make sure the oil is hot before you drop them in.

Variation

You may vary the sweetness, depending upon your taste.

Other Names

Semolina - Suji, Cardamom - Elaichi, Fennel Seeds - Saunf.

Sending this recipe as an entry for Priya's cooking with Fennel Seeds.