- Submitted by Vijaylakshmi
(Savory Indian Dumplings, Spicy Kolukattai, Kongunadu Uppu Kozhukattai)
Today I am going to share a traditional tiffin recipe that has been passed on from my great grandmother to my grandmother and then to my mother and now I make it for my kids. It is the Kara Pidi Kozhukattai. It is quite similar to the Upma Kozhukattai that is already shared here but with a simple variation. “Pidi” in Tamil means hold and kozhukattai is the steamed dumpling variety. Since this dumpling variety is made by holding small balls of dough, it gets its name Pidi kozhukattai.
My grandmother was married when she was just 9 years old and moved to my grandfather’s house when she turned 12 years old. She learnt all the cooking and other house management skills from her mother in law, that is my great grandmother. My grandmother often says that house management is a skill that cannot be learnt in any school or university but can be learnt only by observing and learning from our parents. My grandmother used to make so many varieties of dishes with the same basic ingredients like boiled rice, raw rice, urad dhal, thuvar dhal etc. I think it’s a skill one needs to acquire to showcase many varieties of eatables with the same basic ingredients.
Coming back to our Kara Pidi kozhukattai, I love this tiffin very much but my husband is not very fond of it. Since today he had an official lunch get together and there was no need to pack lunch, I decided to make this for myself and children. This tiffin is also very economical as it yields 10-15 numbers of dumplings for just 1 cup of rice. This tiffin can be made for both breakfast and dinner. The best part of making it is that the dough can be made ready before hand and just minutes before eating, it can be steamed. So, get ready to make this delicious yet simple traditional tiffin and surprise your folks in the family.
Recipe for Kara Pidi Kozhukkattai
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2 - 3
Ingredients
- Parboiled Rice or Idli Rice - 1 cup
- Toor Dal (Tuvaram Paruppu) - 1/2 cup
- Urad Dal (Ulitham Paruppu) - 1 tbsp
- Green Chilies - 4-6
- Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch
- Salt - for taste
- Bits of coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
For Tempering
- Oil - 2 tbsp (preferably coconut oil)
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Curry leaves - few
Method
- Soak the parboiled rice, toor dal and urad dal together 2 hours.
- Grind the chilies, salt and asofaedita in a mixer. After grinding 1 quick round, add the rice and dhal.
- Add little water and grind into a coarse batter.
- In a heavy bottomed vessel, add coconut oil. Temper mustard seed and curry leaves.
- Add the ground batter and coconut bits into the vessel and keep stirring for few minutes. It soon becomes cooked and forms a soft dough.
- Switch off the flame, cover and allow the mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Take a small portion of the dough and make an oblong shaped ball using your fingers.
- Once all of the mixture is made into kozhukattai, steam it in idly cooker or steamer for 15 minutes. Yummy delicious Pidi kozhukattai is ready to be served.
Detailed Steps to make Kara Pidi Kozhukattai
Wash and soak the parboiled rice, toor dal and urad dal together 2 hours.
Grind green chilies, salt and asofaedita in a mixer first. After grinding it, add the soaked rice and dhal. Add sufficient water and grind into a coarse batter.
In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat coconut oil. and temper with mustard seed and curry leaves.
Add the ground batter and some coconut bits and keep stirring for few minutes till it forms a soft dough.
Switch off the flame and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes.
After it becomes cool enough to handle, take a small portion of the dough and make an oblong shaped ball using your fingers. Take the formed kozhukattais in a idly cooker or steamer for 15 minutes.
Serving Kara Pidi Kozhukattai
- The Kara Pidi kozhukattai goes very well with sambhar, coconut chutney, coriander chutney or even onion chutney.
More Kozhukattai Recipes