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Sakkare Achu/Sugar Figurines for Sankranti





Sankranti or Sat Kranti which means 'good movement' is the transimigration of sun from one zodiac to another. Most of us celebrate this as a harvest festival too.Whoever celebrates it  as the harvest festival  should thank Earth for blessing us with fertile land so that we can sustain ourselves. 

A little prayer to Bhu Devi (godess Earth) :
 
Samudhra vasane devi, parvatha sthana mandithe,
Vishnu pathni namasthubhyam pada sparsam kshamasva mae.
which means...
 
Salutations to you consort of Lord Vishnu,
 
Who is clothed by oceans,
 
And is adorned prettily by the mountains,
 
Pardon me mother, for setting my foot on you.
 
 
In Karnataka people celebrate it by exchanging sesame & jaggery  mixture along with sugarcane and 
banana. Sugar Figurines are made and packed along with sesame & jaggery mix. 
As children we enjoyed 'ellu beerodu' (exchanging sesame & jaggery mix) and the making of 
sakkare achchu. We were rewarded with a sakkare achchu if we kept quite till mom finished her work.
We lined up and sat obediently without asking questions. 
It was a joint effort of my mother and uncle in making lovely, yummy figurines.
 
  

Sakkare Acchu For Sankranti
A festive treat for your loved ones

Blog: www.tasteofmysore.com       Author: Lakshmi Grandhim
Preparation time : 1hr                  Total Time Taken : 1hr
             
            
         Ingredients:

200g : Sugar
2tbsp: Yogurt*
2tbsp: Milk 
A drop: Food Color
  
Sakkare Acchu wooden moulds or you can use aluminium mini muffin moulds too.

Method :
1.       Add just enough water to sugar and soak sugar for 12 hrs.
2.       Bring this sugar solution to boil. Add 2 tbsp of yogurt and 2tbsp of milk. Continue to boil for next 30 sec to 1 min
3.      Filter this solution using a clean muslin cloth.
4.      Take 2 big spoons of this filtered sugar syrup in a thick bottomed pan. Bring this to boil.  Reserve the rest of the syrup.
5.      Once the syrup starts boiling, reduce the heat and keep stirring it. Stage 1- you see a lot of bubbles, Stage 2- When the bubbles reduce and starts getting thicker. Keep stirring.   
6.      We need a muthu (pearl) paaka here. A drop of sugar solution in water would come out clean like a pearl when picked.
7.      At this stage, remove the pan from the stove and mix well. Pour them into wooden moulds.  
8.      Use a tooth pick to de mould sakkare acchu. Let them dry before you pack them off!

Notes:
1.       Paaka(Syrup) stage is very important. If the mixture hardens in the pan, add little more sugar solution which is reserved. Make small batches at a time.  
2.       Soaking sugar makes a soft n melt in mouth sakkare acchu. Do not skip this step.
3.       Soak wooden moulds in water for 2-3hrs before making sakkare acchu.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Old Recipe :

you need the following :

sugar : 1cup
water :1/4 cup
milk:1/4 cup
food coloring :  a pinch
Gadgets : wooden mold (soak the molds in water for 1 hrs before you make figurines. 
Secure them together with rubber band.


Method :
a.Dissolve sugar in water and bring to boil. When you see water bubbling, add milk
and bring to boil. 
b.Switch of the stove and filter the solution using a muslin cloth or a tea filter. 
c.Milk is added to remove the impurities of sugar.
d.Add the food coloring to the filtered sugar solution and bring to boil. The syrup
thickens as you boil.

Check!! ...
1.With a spoon pour a drop of solution on a clean surface. After 3-4 seconds take a
match stick and try to remove the drop and the drop should come out as a whole and
should not break which indicates the solution is thick enough to pour into the
molds. 
2. Another way is to hold a drop of solution between your thumb and forefinger and
pull the solution. 

e.If the string formed during the pull stays for 2 seconds without
breaking the solution is ready to pour into the molds.
f.Pour the thick sugar solution to the molds and wait for 5-8 mins before you
remove them.
g.They are very delicate..handle them carefully. Remove them from molds when 
they are little wet.
h.Remove them to a plate and let them dry before you store them in airtight 
container.

 
Photobucket

Sending these sugar figurines to Priti's Festive Food-Makar Sankranti

34 comments:

Unknown said...

Happy sankranti lakshmi nice color and perfect shape looks so beautiful

Lakshmi said...

Thanks Rekha. Wish you the same :)

Indian Khana said...

Happy Sankranti/Pongal LG. Pongal looks so gud...and so teh sugar figurince....thoda hume bi milega kya? ;)

Lakshmi said...

Pri,
definitely milega ...aa jao ghar pe, u know the address ;)

Cham said...

Look like candy making at home is full of fun :) Happy Sankranti to you and ur family.

SPICE OF LIFE said...

Happy Sankranti ... lovely figurines.... hume bhi milni chahiye :-)

YOSEE said...

ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು. How wonderful that you take pains to make sakkare acchu at home ! We have always got it made to order from the "sandige"ladies. i once bought a lovely mould from Devaraja Market, but only used it to make play-doh figures for the kids ! :-)

Raks said...

HAppy sankranti lakshmi and sugar figurines looks so cute! Th

Unknown said...

Happy pongal/sankranti..
sakkare achchu looks delicious..

Anonymous said...

Very nice Lakshmi...
:)
MaNgala

FH said...

Sakkare achchu, I remember those! They came in all shapes and sizes and colorful too! :))

Happy Shankranthi!

Ashwini said...

Sankrati Habbada Shubhashayagalu. Nanu kuda nenne Sakare achu madide. Ammana Maneli madiddu yella tumba nenapu banthu..Nimmadu achu tumba channagide..

Kannada Cuisine said...

Sankranti habbada Shubhashayagalu!
Sakkre Acchu super agide ri!
My mom has made some Yellu and Sakkare acchu but not me :( I wish i could pop a few into my mouth right away

Finla said...

Happy Sankranti.
I loved reading this post.

Namratha said...

How can I forget ellu beerodhu :) That has always been the best part of this habba. Wishing you a very Happy Sankranti Lakshmi. Traditional acchu nodi thumba kushi aithu. Well done! :)

Pallavi said...

These look really cool. Very nice shapes. I should try them as some point. Happy Sankranthi.

Supriya said...

Happy Sankranti to you and family.

Deepthi Shankar said...

Happy sankranthi to you & your family.

Suganya said...

This is a very cute recipe. Looks so good.

Happy Pongal!!!

Trupti said...

Happy Sankranti Laxmi. Sugar Figurines looks wonderful.

Unknown said...

Sankranthi is not complete withour 'sakkare achhu'
Have a good one...

Savi-Ruchi said...

happy sankranti & dont forget to get yellu-bella for me. I am waiting to eat.., I haven't prepared it :(

KonkaniBlogger said...

Happy Sankranthi to you !! Nice step by step pics of the sakkare achhu..

Lakshmi said...

@ Sushma,
sure..will bring ellu bella, sakkare achchu for you :)

Uma said...

those figurines look so cute Lakshmi! Nice recipe. Happy Sankranthi!

Sum Raj said...

happy sankranthi lakshmi..pongal looks fabulous...and regarding the sloga , i remember i have danced on this when i was too young..i like this sloga soo much..

Sujatha Bagal said...

Happy Sankraanthi Lakshmi! thanks for the comment on my blog. Your "sakkare acchu maading" comment produced an intense wave of nostalgia. Now I'm compiling a list of kannadiga bloggers. Please would you post a comment on my blog with the urls of those bloggers you know? Cheers!

Lakshmi said...

@ Sujatha,
you are most welcome. I have left a coment however if you come back here do check out my K blogs compilation on http://suthamutha.blogspot.com

Mangala Bhat said...

Hi laxmi Happy Sankranti ....1st time visit nimma dishes ella chennagide .pongal looks sooo yummy Thanks for sharing .

Unknown said...

WOW............SUPERB POST :) wr do u get the wooden mold LG?

Lakshmi said...

@ Ramya,
We bought them from Mysore :)

Dibs said...

Happy Belated Sankranti! Got steeped in this new role at work, and Sankranti came and went! I should celebrate this weekened at least!! I thought this is tough to make at home. You are really a champ!

Indian Khana said...

Please check http://indiankhanna.blogspot.com/2009/01/baby-corn-manchurian.html..award awaiting for you

saradha iyer said...

Hi where did we get the sakara achu (online)
Thanks