Thaen Mittai ( Sugar Candy / Honey Candy)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw white rice / idli rice

2 tbsp urad dal

red / orange food colour

a pinch of salt

a big pinch of baking soda

For the sugar syrup:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

few drops of lemon juice

oil, for frying

powdered sugar, for coating

Preparation:

1. Wash and soak rice and urad dal in water for 4 hours.
2. Then grind to a smooth paste adding very little water and transfer to a bowl.
3. Add food colour to the batter and mix well. Add salt and baking soda and mix well.
4. To prepare the sugar syrup, combine sugar and water in a wide pan and heat until the sugar dissolves and then bring to a boil.
5. Add few drops of lemon juice and mix well. Keep it aside.
6. Heat oil in a pan. Dip your hand in water and take little batter using your hand and drop it slowly into the hot oil and fry on low-medium flame in batches until crispy.
7. Remove from the flame and add into the warm sugar syrup (warm the syrup before adding the fried candies) and mix using a spoon.
8. Let it soak for 20-30 minutes or as needed. Once soaked, take out from the syrup and coat with powdered sugar.
9. Store in an airtight container..