Kai Haalu/ Coconut sweet sauce

Kaihalu is a sweet sauce that is consumed with anything from vermicelli, Holige to Kadubu. I am not a big fan of Kai halu but Honey is. Basically this dish is very popular in coconut growing regions of south Karnataka. I have seen folks from the Coconut belt of Tumkur-Hassan-Chitradurga considering it a sacrilege to serve Holige or Obbattu without this Kai haalu on the side! It is not too elaborate and I made a double batch for Janmastami, froze half of it for Vinayaka Chaturti for I knew Honey would definitely want it with the Kadubus!
There are several versions of this dish, a few recipes calls for only three ingredients, while a few calls for as many as 10!! The one I went ahead is my MIL’s recipe and I kind of liked it. Also, it is a good idea to use fresh coconut instead of frozen ones in this recipe. The fresh coconut makes the dish sweeter and tastier.




We will need,
Coconut 1 cup grated
Jaggery ½ cup (more if you like it sweeter)
Milk 1 cup
Poppy seeds 1 tbsp
Sesame seeds 1 tbsp
Cardamom 2

Method:

• On a dry toasting pan, toast poppy seeds and sesame seeds separately till they become fragrant and start popping. Set them aside to cool.
• Grind the coconut with milk into a very smooth paste. (In fact coconut milk can be extracted and all the residual fibers discarded for a smoother consistency, but I prefer mine to be a slightly coarse)
• Now grind the cooled poppy and sesame seeds with the cardamom into a smooth powder. Mix it with the coconut milk mixture.
• Combine the mixture with Jaggery and some water and bring it to a gentle boil. Turn the heat off when the mixture is well combined and fragrant.
• Serve it hot or cold with fresh Shavige or Kadubu or Holige.