Coconut Candy
Deepavali means something sweet for most Indians! Coconut candy may sound like something difficult to make but it is actually very simple and easy to make. I say simple because there are only a few ingredients needed; however you need to equip yourself with Patience!
I love these little squarish, colourful, sinfully sweet, creamy, crunchy, delicious candy bars. I remember my childhood days when I used to watch my aunt making it. She will personally husk the coconuts; shave off the dark brown skin of the coconuts and then hand-grate them painstakingly. She would then place the grated coconut into a granite grinding stone and grind it a bit at a time so that the coconut flakes would become smaller. She would then place the ground coconut and the rest of the ingredients into a huge brass flat-bottomed wok and cook over a fire wood stove.
1 kg grated white part of coconut
430 g caster sugar
200 ml evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pink colouring or apple green colouring
1/2 tin condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom powder or vanilla essence
One egg white, lightly beaten
METHOD
- Put the coconut, caster sugar, evaporated milk, colouring, condensed milk and salt into a non-stick saucepan.
- Cook, stirring continuously over a low heat, until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken. In the beginning you will see more liquid (because the sugar will be melting) but as you carry on cooking and stirring, it will thicken into a clump.
- Add the vanilla essence and egg white and keep on stirring until the mixture turns quite dry and does not stick to the sides of the saucepan.
- Add in the butter and carry on cooking till it forms a neat ball in the wok. To test to see if the candy is ready, drop a teaspoon into a bowl of water. If it disintegrates, then you will have to cook until it is able to hold its shape in the water.
- Spread onto greased baking tins about 1.5 cm high. Leave to cool and when the candy has hardened a little, cut into squares and store it in airtight containers.
