Odisha Kora Khai Popped Rice Jaggery Snack

Method

1. 1

   Dry roast the puffed rice: Roast puffed rice in a dry pan on medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring, until completely dry and crisp. Cool in a wide plate.

2. 2

   Grease a tray or plate: Grease a flat tray or smooth surface with ghee.

3. 3

   Make jaggery syrup: Place jaggery and water in a small pot on medium heat. Stir until jaggery dissolves completely. Bring to a boil.

4. 4

   Cook to soft ball stage: Cook without stirring until a drop in cold water forms a soft ball. This stage is critical — under-cooked syrup makes the khai sticky and wet rather than crunchy-bound.

5. 5

   Add cardamom and dry ginger: Add cardamom and dry ginger to the syrup. Stir.

6. 6

   Pour syrup over puffed rice: Pour the hot jaggery syrup over the roasted puffed rice all at once. Mix quickly and vigorously with a spatula — the syrup begins to set immediately.

7. 7

   Press into the greased tray: Transfer the syrup-coated puffed rice immediately to the greased tray. Press firmly and evenly using the back of a greased spoon or lightly greased hands.

8. 8

   Shape while warm: While still slightly warm and pliable, press into a rectangle about 2 cm thick.

9. 9

   Score into squares: Using a knife, score into square or rectangular pieces while still slightly warm.

10. 10

    Cool completely and break along score lines.

11. 11

    Note: Kora Khai (kora = puffed/popped, khai = a sweetened snack in Odia) is made for the Nuakhai festival — the new rice harvest celebration of western Odisha (Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir districts) where the first rice of the season is offered to the deity and then the family eats together. The puffed rice and jaggery combination is the simplest form of celebrating the harvest — the grain and the sweetener made from the other harvest crop (sugarcane) combined together.