Sweet and sour memories of childhood, make that mouth-watering tamarind candy easily at home

News India Live, Digital Desk: Do you remember that sweet and sour tamarind candy found at the cart outside the school? Whose mouth used to water as soon as I heard its name. That taste is still fresh in our memories. Even today, many types of candies are available in the market, but home made ones have something different – taste as well as health.

So why don’t we refresh those childhood memories today? Let us make the same spicy tamarind candy at home today. It is so easy to make that you will be surprised and its taste is such that not only children but even adults will keep licking their fingers.

What do we need? (Ingredients)

To make this spicy candy, you will only need some basic kitchen items:

• Tamarind: 100 grams (seedless is best)
• Jaggery or sugar: 100 grams (you can increase or decrease as per your taste)
• Black Salt: half teaspoon
• Roasted Cumin Powder: half teaspoon
• chilli powder: 1/4 tsp (or as per taste)
• Desi Ghee: half teaspoon
• Powdered Sugar (Bura): to wrap candy on

The easiest method to make

1. Prepare the tamarind: If your tamarind has seeds, first remove them and the fibers. Now soak the tamarind in half a cup of hot water for 15-20 minutes, so that it becomes soft.
2. Make thick paste: When the tamarind becomes soft, mash it well with your hands and take out its thick pulp and filter out any remaining fibres.
3. Cooking Process: Now put a pan or wok on the gas and add half a spoon of ghee in it. When the ghee is hot, add tamarind pulp in it and fry for a minute.
4. Mix spices: Now add jaggery (or sugar), black salt, roasted cumin powder and red chili powder and mix well.
5. Real hard work now: Now you have to cook it on low flame while stirring continuously. Gradually the jaggery will melt and the mixture will start thickening. It has to be cooked until it starts leaving the sides of the pan and gathers at one place and becomes like a ball. This may take 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Cool and make balls: Turn off the gas and take out the mixture in a plate and let it cool slightly. When it becomes so cool that you can touch it with your hands, apply a little ghee on your hands and make small balls or toffee shapes.
7. Last Touch: Now wrap these prepared candies thoroughly in powdered sugar (Bura) so that they do not stick to each other.

Here, your homemade, pure and spicy tamarind candy is ready! Keep it in an airtight container and whenever you feel like eating something spicy, enjoy this taste of childhood.