Tuesday, September 29, 2015

ULUNDU KOZHUKKATTAI - INDIAN MOMMOS WITH URAD DHAL STUFFING (SAVORY VERSION)

This is a post from my draft which is pending for sometime.  Couldn't work on it fully to post as I was too much occupied with work and personal things.  I am currently on a business trip to Singapore and one of the famous food (Momos) here urged me to keep this name :-)... 

Kozhukattai is a popular South Indian dumpling made with rice flour and can be made with varied stuffing in both sweet and savory versions.  This can be taken as breakfast or as a evening tea snack.  In Tamilnadu,  this dish is traditionally associated with Lord Ganesha and rendered as an offering on his birthday, Ganesh Chathurthi.  Recently, we had Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations for which I prepared this savory kozhukattai with urad dhal filling.  I will be posting the sweeter version also at some point in future as all my kozhukattais got over in a minute as soon as I have prepared and couldn't take the final pictures :-).


Ingredients:
Kozhukkatai flour - 2 cups (store brought)
Water - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch
Oil - 2 tsp

For ulundu filling:
Urad dhal - 1 cup
Red chillies - 6
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Asafoetida - a pinch
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp (for tempering)
Salt - To taste

Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation:
How to make ulundu filling:

1. Soak urad dhal for 1 hour and grind it coarsely adding red chillies, asafoetida, and salt.
2. Steam cook the mixture in idly plates for 7-10 minutes.


3. Once the mixture is cooled down, just pulse it in the mixture so that it breaks down evenly.  In a pan, add little oil and temper with mustard seeds.  once the mustard seeds crackles, add the pulsed urad dhal mixture.  Saute for 2 minutes, add coconut finally, mix well and keep in flame for a minute and then switch off the flame.  Addition of coconut gives a nice flavor to the filling.
How to make the outer layer:

Boil 2 cups of water with little oil and a pinch of salt. When it starts to boil, add the idiyappam flour and stir well continuously.  When the color changes, switch off the flame. When it is warm, roll it with your hands to form a nice dough.

How to make Kozhukkatais with fillings
Make medium lemon sized balls out of the dough as above. With your fingers make a small cup out of it and place the filling inside  and carefully seal the edges.


Repeat the same process for rest of the dough and steam cook for 7 minutes.  The end outcome would be a shiny kozhukkatais









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