Sakkare Acchchu / Sugar Molds - Sankranti Special sweet

                   Sakkare Acchchu – Makara Sankranti special

Ingredients:

White sugar – 1 Kg
Thick curd/ yogurt – 1 cup
Boiled and cooled milk  - 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Muslin cloth or any other thin cloth for filteration
Wooden moulds as per your wish
Rubber bands to secure the moulds

Instructions:

Wooden moulds pre-preparation:

        Pre-soak the wooden moulds in water for atleast 30 mins before using. This helps them to be wet all the time and acts like a shield protecting the hot sugar syrup from sticking to the moulds.

Making Sugar syrup:

        Add sugar into a thick bottomed container and add some water until it covers the surface of the sugar. Water must be added cautiously. Otherwise, the preparation time would increase. Switch ON  the flame and heat the mixture under medium heat. Keep stirring occassionally. The sugar starts to melt and dissolves into the water. Slowly, you would notice that the bubbles are forming. Keep stirring continuously.

Sugar syrup purification + Whitening method:

        When the water starts to boil and thickens, add a cup of yogurt. Stir it continuously under medium flame. You would notice that this hot liquid started to curdle. Do not worry. Allow it to curdle for a while until you see no more lumps or foamy substance forming on the surface of the hot liquid. Simmer the flame. Use another big container and cover it with the muslin cloth. Make sure that the cloth is held tightly or secured well with a small thread tied across the bowl. Now, make a small well in the centre and pour the hot liquid over the muslin cloth. All the liquid drains into the container and any impurities or lumps are collected in the muslin cloth. Slowly, loosen the thread across the bowl and filter out all the liquid. Squeeze out any excess liquid in the lumps by pressing it hard or by using a spatula as shown in the video. If there are no impurities, you may savour the lumps as sweetened cheese :).

        Place this freshly collected sugar syrup on medium flame and stir continuously. When you start to notice the bubbles and when the mixture seems to be thickening, add a cup of milk. This mixture starts to curdle and you would notice that the lumps formed in this process are much more than the ones formed earlier while we used curd. Do not worry. Follow the same process as before and filter out all the lumps separating the clean sugar syrup.

Wooden moulds preparation:
         
        Remove the wooden moulds from the soaked water and place them on a dry cloth. Wipe out the excess water by dabbing gently on both sides. Make sure that the wooden moulds are not completely dry on the inner side. There should still be some feeling of wetness when you touch them. Take the moulds, set all the pieces and secure them with a rubber band. Follow the same process for all the remaining moulds. Place them on the working area leaving ample space between each mould.

         I am using a small wooden base and am placing these wooden moulds over it. This way, any excess or leaked sugar syrup can crystallize over the wooden top which can be scraped and used back in the same preparation, in the next batch.

Sugar moulds preparation:

         In a small thick bottomed container, add sufficient sugar syrup based on the number of moulds you have. In this preparation, i am using 8 moulds of which 3 are big ones and the remaining are small ones. So, i would use around 1/4 th of the sugar syrup. Keep stirring continuously.

        Initially, when the syrup is runny you may stir occassionally. But, as the syrup starts to thicken, stirring continuously is preferred. Otherwise, the syrup starts to burn at the bottom of the container and leaves a burnt taste. This recipe calls for more patience and hard work. But, the ultimate result is way more than Awesome! Stay engaged.

        As the syrup starts to thicken, bubbles start to form. Keep stirring. After a while, you would notice that the size of the bubbles start to reduce and the stirring gets bit tougher. This is because the syrup is thickening and is about to crystallize. Lower the flame and keep stirring. When you start to notice bit cloudy/white color while stirring along with the toughness to stir, switch off the flame. Bring the container to the working area and start stirring continuously. This way, we are allowing the steam to escape and are helping to cool down the temperature of the hot liquid. If it starts to get harder, you may add some runny sugar syrup which was set aside earlier and stir well. When the hot liquid is smooth, thick and less runny, scoop out some and pour it into the wooden moulds.

Cooling:

       Allow the hot liquid to cool down. After a minute you would notice that the hot liquid is crystallizing. Now, using a blunt knife scrape out the excess sugar crystals into the small container. Allow the moulds to cool down for another 30 seconds or a minute. If they are cooled longer, it would be difficult to remove the sugar structures from the wooden moulds and there are chances for them to break off.

       After cooling, remove the rubber bands. Gently hold the wooden moulds and pull them off. Drop these wooden moulds into the water for quick washing after every use. Just dipping in plain fresh water and rinsing is enough. No additional liquid soap is required for cleaning.

      While removing the last wooden mould, be very careful and slowly hold the sugar structure and gently pull it off. If the sugar structure is still hot and soft, set it aside for further cooling. Then, remove it slowly. Place the sugar structures on a clean plate and allow them to cool down further. Bright white sugar structures would look so appealing. Our first batch is done.

       Use the remaining sugar syrup and continue the same process as mentioned above for making many more sugar structures.

Storing:

       Once the sugar structures are cooled down completely and aren’t wet on either side, store them in an air tight container and place them in a cool and dry place. These can be stored for atleast 2 weeks. I am sure they wouldn’t last so long as they would be eaten/taken away by then :).

       Hurray! Our successful experiment with sugar syrup for making sugar structures or Sakkare Acchchu was lot more fun and educative. Do allow/ engage your young kids to learn and explore the moulding process strictly under adult supervision. I am sure they would have lot more FUN than US. This leaves a lasting impact on the young minds to see and learn how Science can be creative. This makes them think in a different perspective than before. Try out and let me know your comments. 

Short Recap:

1. Wash the wooden moulds to get rid of any sediments and keep the mould area clean. Dab the moulds with a dry cloth to remove any excess water.
2. Prepare the moulds and secure them with a rubber band.
3. Prepare the sugar syrup and boil it for some time along with continuous stirring. When the sugar syrup starts to crystallize, switch off the flame and cool down the temperature by constant stirring.
4. Pour the hot liquid into the wooden moulds.
5. Allow it to cool down. Once the sugar syrup crystallizes, separate the wooden moulds and sugar structures. Place the sugar structures on a clean plate for further cooling.
6. Pack and store them in an air tight container.
7. Consume in less than 2 weeks.

Creativity:

        When the sugar syrup is about to crystallize add any food colour and mix it well. Follow all the remaining steps/ processes as listed above. When the sugar structures cool down, you would see a colorful structure standing out amidst the bright white ones. Isn’t it fun? Definitely a ‘YES’ from me.

         I get nostalgic when i see them. I remember helping my mom make them during my tender age. Now, I am making them after a span of 3 decades. Woo hoo.. That’s really a long time. Nevertheless, i wanted to engage my kids and let them know how we followed the Indian tradition and celebrated every festival. This is a small initiative from my end to bring back the lost memories.


       Sakkare Acchu is a sweet sugar structure/crystallized sugar made out of sugar syrup. This is generally made during Makara Sankranti by South Indians typically Kannadigas. Atleast, 2 or 3 people gather and make it before hand (2 to 3 days before the festival). On the day of Sankranti, young girls and ladies, dress up at their BEST and venture out to the neighbourhood to share the goodies. Especially, in the evenings. The streets would be filled with bright colored rangolis, beautiful ladies and joyful children roaming all around.

      This festival offers us an opportunity to know our neighbours better and collect as many goodies as we wish. The collection would be a varied range - different shapes, sizes and colours. On this day, everyone would try to showcase the best piece they have collected by far. You would see a quiet person with eager eyes gazing at you with a smile on the face. Guess who? You are Right! It’s none other than your grandparents unwinding their old memories and smiling. Then, comes the hard part. Sharing. Every moment we take a bite, there would be a soft tone murmuring somewhere saying, “Oh! No. My structure is taken. Pity me.” Trust me. It’s not from a horror movie. It would be your sibling or kid cribbing silently looking at the goodie you are eating :). They would also start tasting and debating about the different shapes and textures. What can be more ‘FUN’ than watching your family enjoy? Amongst all, the home made goodies would stand out. You would be thrown with surprise when everyone starts appreciating and applauding.

        Home made ones are always the BEST as they are not just made with LOVE but with lot of care and hygiene maintained. When you take a bite they just melt in your mouth :) Mmmm.. They are so soft yet look strong. Every one loves to have them. Be it senior citizen, young child or an adult. Who says “NO” unless you aren’t a sweet lover?

        Nowadays, buying from markets or grocery shops is much easier and convenient. But, they definitely aren’t as good as the home made ones nor are they hygienically made. Generally, they are hard to bite and taste not that great. You may also find some impurities in them. Why waste money on something that isn’t worth it? Try making them at home. You’ll definitely enjoy making and sharing. Surprise your family and friends as always. Be the center of attraction and enjoy every moment :) Stay tuned to watch our next video. See you soon.



TIPS:

TIP 1: When the hot sugar syrup is turning white, it’s an ideal time to cool down the temperature of the hot liquid before pouring it into the moulds.

TIP 2: If you were in a hurry and didn’t estimate the right time before pouring the hot liquid into the moulds, do not worry. After the hot liquid cools down it will be sticky and forming strings. Dip the wooden moulds in a water filled container. Now, remove the sugar syrup from the wooden moulds easily as they wouldn’t stick to your hands or the wood. Make a ball and put back into the sugar syrup for further heating.

TIP 3: When the hot sugar syrup is just right for crystallization, always stir it well before pouring it  into the moulds. Otherwise, when the steam tries to escape, it leaves a hole or gap in the sugar structures.

TIP 4: Always keeping stirring the hot liquid. Otherwise, the base would start burning and the sugar syrup changes the color to brown from bright white.

TIP 5: Be attentive and keep stirring the hot mixture when it is about to crystallize. Otherwise, the liquid would crystallize in the container before you pour it in the moulds.

TIP 6: If the sugar syrup is getting harder to stir before pouring it into the wooden moulds, do not panic. Add little quantity of fresh sugar syrup that was set aside earlier and stir continuously. This would adjust the consistency of the hot liquid which can be used to pour into the wooden moulds.

TIP 7: Do not add more runny syrup while the hot liquid is crystallizing as you would end up reheating and stirring until this runny liquid starts to crystallize.

TIP 8: Separate the sugar structures and the wooden moulds when they are still hot. Otherwise, there are chances that the sugar structures would break off while separating if they are cooled for longer.

TIP 9: When there is very little sugar syrup left out at the end, use smaller moulds (OR) you can use the sugar syrup to make some fresh lemonade after a tiring task :).

TIP 10: Consume within 2 weeks as the freshness reduces if stored longer.