Tuesday 27 October 2015

NARKOL TAKTI





Today it is Kojagari Lakshmi Pujo in so many homes. I also keep a special prayer on this day in my own small way ever since I moved abroad. These are the rituals, customs we have grown up watching. The smell of dhoop-dhuno[incense], camphor mixed jaggery n coconut being cooked, of freshly cut fruits, of bhog er khichuri.... of chandan smeared flowers..... all taken together.... it was a heavenly atmosphere. All these memories are still afresh on my mind. I try to follow them as much as possible though not with the same expertise.

For today, narkol naru is a must. I remember so many variety of it was made; "naru, takti, chacher sandesh." Chach are designer blocks in which we place the cooked jaggery and coconut mixture / dough and carefully take them out. On my next visit to India I need to buy some otherwise will steal my mom's which are about 40 years old. Today I made some Narkol Takti. They are just another variant of naru, a bit harder, we cook the mixture more to get this consistency. Tiler Takti was done too but I am yet too master on that. Now let us prepare the Narkoler Takti which requires only few ingredients and a bit of patience.






INGREDIENTS :

Coconut[shredded] : 300 gm or of one coconut.
Jaggery : 150gm
Sugar : 2tbsp
Camphor Tablet : 1[alternatively 1/2 tsp cardamom powder]
Water : 1 small tea cup

METHOD :

Put a wok on the gas top. Add the water and jaggery to it. Ground the camphor tablet and add to it. Let boil till it reduces and gets sticky. This may take 10-15 minutes at low heat.

Add the shredded coconut, fold in well. Keep stirring continuously, the coconut will release a lot of water.

We have to let it cook till the water dries up and it reaches a sticky consistency. Add the sugar and keep stirring until it gets a sticky, hard look. We cook some extra time as we are preparing takti and not naru.

Transfer the cooked content on a plate. Let it cool a bit, tear off small portions to get any desired shape with the help of  your palms when it is still warm.

They will be a bit harder and chewy than naru. We can refrigerate them for few days stored in air tight containers.









4 comments :

  1. Wow Soma I love the authentic dishes and it looks really tempting :)

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    1. Thanks so much Jolly for the appreciations...always will be...

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  2. This sweet is new to me, but looks super exotic. I wish I could have 3-4 of these right now! YUMMY! :)

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    1. Thank you Anupama ....always you are appreciative...

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