Narkel Naru for Lokkhi Puja

Aaj Lokkhi Pujo, which means Narkel Naru is necessary.

So it was natural for me to give in to peer pressure.

Ingredients for Narkel Naru/Bengali Coconut Laddu are:

3 cups shredded coconut (fresh or packaged; I used the unsweetened kind)
300 ml sweetened condense milk
1 cup plain milk
6-8 green cardamoms, coarsely ground

Move around the coconut in a thick bottom pan for about 4-5 minutes on very low heat. Add the condense milk and the cup of milk, mix well. Keep the heat at the lowest gas mark.

The coconut and the milk mixture should start bubbling on the sides and get thicker. Keep mixing it with a silicon coated ladle if you have, else use a steel spoon. Make sure you keep scraping the bottom of the pan and watch the mixture all the time.

After about 10 minutes on low heat the mixture would have cooked. Turn the heat off and add the cardamom powder. Give it a good mix and let the coconut mixture cool down.

When the mixture is cool enough for you to handle, make little lemon-size balls with your hands and place on a clean platter. This quantity makes about 20 naru/ laddu.

Store in an airtight box and do refrigerate.

The Narkel Naru is an essential offering in many Indian festivals, and particularly the Lokkhi Puja/ Lakshmi Puja that Bengalis do just after Durga Puja.

May the Goddess of Prosperity and Wealth shower her blessings on all of you and some Narkel Naru too, but watch that head. Bhalo theko.

More photos are here.