THIRATTUPAAL

This is a traditional Tamil brahmin sweet and is made on all important days. In Iyengar marriages, there is a lovely function. The bride is given a small cup of thirattupaal and will be asked to distribute it to all the people available. Elders tell her that if she distributes to everyone, she can run the family within the means effectively. It is a great deal to make very small balls, like a chickpea, out of it and to distribute it to everyone.

This is the traditional way of preparing thirattupaal. Though this is time consuming, this will be tastier than the microwave version. I got about 3/4 kg. with the given ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

Milk - 3 litres
Crushed jaggery - 2 cups
Cardamom - 8
Ghee - 1 tablespoon

METHOD:

Crush the jaggery bars using a crusher. Powder the cardamoms.

Boil milk in a thick bottomed deep utensil. I used a pressure cooker. Put a small plate inside the milk. This prevents the charring of milk. Stir often. When the milk starts thickening, take out the small plate and stir the milk frequently till it reduces to half.

Now transfer the milk to a wide , heavy bottomed pan or a non-stick kadai. Allow it to boil and stir it continuously till it becomes thick like a curdled texture . Now add the powdered jaggery. Mix it well. The jaggery will dissolve and start thickening. Now add the cardamom powder and ghee. Stir till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. The mixture should neither be too moist nor like a dough. Switch off the stove and transfer it to a container.

DELICIOUS THIRATTUPAAL IS READY.