Therattippaal
Every time my பெறியம்மா – periamma/aunt visited us from Srirangam or Chennai, the first thing she would do after reaching our home would be to have a bath and then immediately open her suitcase and call us all to give us therattippal from a stainless steel dabba. இந்தாடீ, வந்து வாங்கிக்கோ (come and get it). I never really appreciated the effort she must have put into making it just before a long train journey along with all the other cooking for two days of travel. This an absolutely essential sweet at weddings and any celebrations. Made with only two main ingredients, milk and jaggery, this is indeed a really tasty sweet. But be prepared to set aside a couple of hours of uninterrupted time to make this. You need patience and elbow grease. My mother would always make this with jaggery (healthier option) as opposed to sugar and though it deepens the colour a little, the taste is absolutely out of this world.
Ingredients
Milk (full fat) – 2 lts
Jaggery – 1/2 cup (to taste)
Ghee – 1 tsp
Saffron – a pinch
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
In a heavy bottom pot (vengalai panai) add the ghee and when it melts add the milk. Add the saffron start stirring the milk making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom or boil over. The milk needs to be cooked down till it reaches a thick consistency and at this point add the powdered jaggery.
This will take over an hour as the flame has to be kept between low and medium to make sure the milk doesn’t burn. The colour will change and it will thicken.
Once it stops sticking to the sides of the pot, add the cardamom powder, mix well and immediately transfer it out of the pot. It will thicken more when it cools.