Grated Coconut Sweet (Coconut Vadi/ Naarlachi Vadi/ Soye Khadi)

Coconut Vadi is a sweet very popular in Western part of India. This easy-to-make recipe finds lot of importance in festival food preparation which is called as Falaar. Falaar is a combination of various sweets, snacks and appetisers made during Diwali or any important occasion like weddings, birth ceremony, etc finding lot of prominence in Marathi and Goan homes. Once prepared, different combinations of these are gifted to family, friends and relatives. Most of the dishes are home made and made from scratch.

Coconut Vadi or Naarlachi Vadi (Naaral = Coconut in Marathi, Vadi = square cut shaped eatable). Excess coconut in my house is used abundantly for the Vadi's. Its a little tricky dish because your sugar syrup consistency plays a vital role in deciding the taste, texture and firmness of the Vadi. I also love Tomato Khadi which I'll save for another post. I cut them with a lame hand owing to which the shape was not perfect, but lessons learnt. :) So I decided to share the recipe only if I found it blog worthy with a successful attempt. I did not add food color; prefer to keep it natural and organic, these tasted yummy!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Yield: 10-12 pieces

Ingredients:

Coconut (grated) fresh or frozen - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Skinless Cashew Nut (coarse powder) - 6-10 nuts

Water - For the sugar syrup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Food color of choice (optional) - 2-3 drops

Sliced Almonds/ Slivered Almonds - 2 tablespoon

Method:

Heat sugar and just enough water to cover sugar completely. Allow to caramelise into syrup. You will notice bubbles coming up and the sugar melting. Stir occasionally playing between low-to-medium flame. Once the sugar syrup reaches a one-thread consistency, add grated coconut and food color and keep stirring till the coconut gets collected and water evaporates completely. The best test would be take a drop of the syrup and stretch between thumb and index finger for one thread consistency. Take care not to burn your fingers. This whole process takes around 30-40 minutes.

On the side, grease a pan or a pyrex glass cake tray with ghee on the bottom surface and on the sides. Once the grated coconut is cooked completely, turn off flame. It will appear as a single lumpy consistency. Add Cardamom powder and give a stir. Spread on the pan and pat to get a flattened surface. Garnish with sliced almonds or silvered almonds. Once spread, cut into desired shapes and leave to cool. Remove after couple of hours. Store in air-tight containers.

Suggestion: These Vadi's do not contain milk. They have a shelf life of upto 1-1/2 week. Preferably store in refrigerator if dwelling in hot terrains or store them in air tight containers at room temperature. No need for refrigeration as well. Store them in air-tight containers for better taste and freshness.