Sakkare acchu recipe with detailed video instruction.

Makara Sankranthi is not complete with out cute little sweet sugar dolls or achchu. In olden times it is the best time for women to get together and make these dolls. This is a specialty of Karnataka. This recipe is for a cup of sugar. Equally important item in sankranthi is ellu bella.

Ellu (sesame seeds) bella(jaggery) along with other ingredients is a perfectly balanced mix for the month of January. It has protein, calcium, oil and iron from the ingredients, which are required for our body to rejuvenate from the winter weather. As we all know in every part of our country Sankranthi festival is celebrated, though each state has its own name for this festival, basically celebrating the harvest. At this time of the year, weather will be cold and dry, the main ingredients we use to prepare the dish for this festival is til/sesame seeds and jaggery along with nuts and coconut, which makes it an absolute health snack for the winter.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup yogurt

Additionally:

• Achchu (moulds) soaked in water overnight.

Method:

1. Mix water and sugar and bring it to a boil.
2. Add milk. Then add yogurt and mix it, and let it boil.
3. Filter this syrup using a white clean cloth.
4. Now the syrup is ready.
5. Dry the wooden moulds and keep them ready. In a thick bottom pan, take a portion of the prepared syrup and boil it on a medium heat.
6. Once the syrup gets thicker (when you take the syrup in a spoon, bubbles should stay as bubbles), take it out from the stove and stir it continuously.
7. The syrup should become thick and have a whitish color.
8. Now pour it onto the moulds.
9. Cool it for few seconds and gently take the achchu from the moulds using a tooth pick.
10. Repeat the same procedure with the remaining syrup.
11. Tip: If the syrup becomes hard add little more syrup or water and melt it and pour it to the moulds.