NARKOL NARU(COCONUT BALLS)

NARKOL NARU / COCONUT BALLS are common among us made during the festive season. It is first offered to God before consuming. There are a couple of variety, ones made with jaggery, sugar, sugar & milk being most common.

Whenever I make this coconut ladoo, I travel back in time. Nowadays with shredded coconut available in market, it has become easy to make this sweet, coconut balls. Making this wasn't easy process earlier, complex rather.

Our maternal grandparents' home had / has thirteen coconut trees surrounding their garden. There are trained personel to get those coconuts down the trees, get rid of hard cover. After this, our grandma, other elderly ladies took charge of whole process, from breaking coconuts to making of ladoo! Later, our mother too did it same way. The red ladoo is made with jaggery, the white ones I have made with semi-solidified milk & sugar. 

INGREDIENTS : (for coconut balls with jaggery)

Shredded Coconut: 250 gm
Sugarcane Jaggery : 125 gm (I used a healthier variety of Coconut Rock Sugar)
Camphor : 1 small tablet powdered (can use 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder instead)
Water : 1 small tea cup sized

METHOD :

Place wok on gas top. Once heated, pour water, jaggery. Let jaggery melt at medium heat. Once it melts, lower heat. 

Meanwhile, you can blend shredded coconut to a fine paste with little water; I did not. 

Keep stirring jaggery, else it may burn. When jaggery would get a bit sticky, add shredded coconut. Mix well, add camphor tablet. Keep on stirring until water from coconut starts drying up, get sticky. When mixture would seem coming out from sides of wok, it's ready.

Transfer to plate. Let it cool bit, not fully. Apply little oil on your both palms. While coconut mix is still warm, take little by little on your both palms and shape into smooth, round balls.

Please note, camphor is to add flavour to coconut balls. You may skip using.

INGREDIENTS : (for coconut balls with sugar & milk)

Shredded Coconut : 250 gm
Milk : 200-250 ml

Milk Powder : 2 tbsp

Sugar : 6-7 tbsp [ I used healthier Brown Sugar]

Ghee : 1 tbsp
Camphor : 1 tablet powdered (can alternate with 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder)

METHOD :

Place wok on your gas stove. Mix together ghee, milk, milk powder well. Add to wok, place wok on gas top. Keep stirring while its boiling. Within 10-12 minutes, it would turn creamier while we stir continuously.

You may blend shredded coconut into a paste with little water; I did not. Add shredded coconut to wok. Add camphor powder. Keep stirring until mixture gets sticky.

Transfer to plate. Let cool a bit. Shape into smooth round balls while mixture is warm. Applying oil on your palms would help to shape them better.