Karthigai Rangoli

Ingredients: A cup of puffed rice Half a cup of crushed Jaggery A pinch of dry ginger powder A pinch of crushed black pepper About ¼ cup of coconut pieces A pinch of salt Procedure: Melt the crushed jaggery in a pan, filter it to remove the sand particles, set it aside. Toast the coconut pieces. Transfer the melted jaggery solution to a thick bottomed vessel and boil (on low heat) it to a string consistency. Add the puffed rice, dry ginger, salt, toasted coconut pieces and the crushed black pepper to the jaggery mass and mix thoroughly. The mixture is now ready to be shaped into balls (urundai). You could use some clarified butter/ghee to grease your palms and shape the mixture a little at a time into balls.