Kamarkattu or coconut candy is a childhood favorite of every 90’s kid in Tamil Nadu, India. It is a delicious candy made just with 2 main ingredients – coconut and jaggery. This candy is hard and not meant to be bitten into. Instead, pop it into the mouth and let it sit as the jaggery slowly dissolves in the saliva. Gently suck in the sweet syrup as it releases – pure bliss! Every now and then, bite the lil crunchy bits of coconut, making it an absolute treat to relish for a good 10 minutes. It was just 50 paise back then and we usually get 2 for 1 rupee. We pop the candy into our mouths as we leave home, and we enjoy it all the way to school. A sweet companion for the commute, bringing back fond memories of our school days. Kamarkatu is also known as Kalkona and the authentic color is dark brown. The color depends on the jaggery color, but I got pale jaggery and so my kamarkat color is lighter.
- Finely grated coconut - ⅓ cup (loosely packed)
- Jaggery - ½ cup (tightly packed)
- Water - ¼ cup
- Cardamom powder - ¼ tsp
- Ghee - ½ tsp + greasing
- Take jaggery in ½ cup, tightly packed cup. Add ¼ cup water and ¼ tsp cardamom powder.
- Let it boil in medium flame until the jaggery melts completely. Once melted, strain the jaggery syrup.
- Add strained jaggery syrup to a pan and boil in medium flame. Stir now and then.
- Once thickened, add few drops to a bowl of water and gather them to form a thick and hard ball. Throw it on a plate and if you hear a dong sound, then it is the right hard ball consistency.
- Add finely grated coconut and mix well. Keep cooking in medium flame for 3 more minutes. Add ½ tsp ghee or coconut oil and keep stirring.
- Turn off the stove once frothy, thick, non-sticky and leaves the pan easily. Immediately transfer to a ghee-greased plate.
- It will be too hot to touch. Use a spoon to scrape down the contents stuck to the ladle. Let it cool down for 2 minutes.
- Once it is still hot, take a portion in a ghee greased oil spoon as shown in below pic. Shape it using ghee-greased fingers. It is easy to shape like this.
- Then slide it to the palm and give a final shape with fingers. Repeat this process to finish shaping all, before the heat subsides. It will be little soft now. Let it cool down completely to harden like a stone.
- Once cooled completely, store in air-tight container and enjoy for a week!
2.Choose dark colored Jaggery for authentic look.
3.If coconut shreds are thicker, give it a pulse in mixie for finer shreds.
4.Instead of greased plate, you can directly pour into a butter paper lined plate.
5.You can double this recipe.
6.If you are making large quantity, better fry coconut in 1 tsp ghee in low flame until moisture is evaporated (but do not darken) for longer shelf life.
How to make Kamarkat?
1.Take jaggery in 1/2 cup, tightly packed cup. Add 1/4 cup water and 1/4 tsp cardamom powder.
2.Let it boil in medium flame until the jaggery melts completely. Once melted, strain the jaggery syrup.
3.Add strained jaggery syrup to a pan and boil in medium flame. Stir now and then.
4.Once thickened, add few drops to a bowl of water and gather them to form a thick and hard ball. Throw it on a plate and if you hear a dong sound, then it is the right hard ball consistency.
5.Add finely grated coconut and mix well. Keep cooking in medium flame for 3 more minutes. Add 1/2 tsp ghee or coconut oil and keep stirring.
6. Turn off the stove once frothy, thick, non-sticky and leaves the pan easily. Immediately transfer to a ghee-greased plate.
7.It will be too hot to touch. Use a spoon to scrape down the contents stuck to the ladle. Let it cool down for 2 minutes. Once it is still hot, take a portion in a ghee greased oil spoon as shown in below pic. Shape it using ghee-greased fingers. It is easy to shape like this. 
8.Then slide it to the palm and give a final shape with fingers. Repeat this process to finish shaping all, before the heat subsides. It will be little soft now. Let it cool down completely to harden like a stone.
Once cooled completely, store in air-tight container and enjoy for a week! This is a hard candy, and it is not to bite and eat. This has to be soaked in saliva and sucked to indulge the sweet coconut flavor. It is a slow treat that can be enjoyed in mouth for 5 to 10 minutes. Do try and enjoy!
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