Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Upma Kozhukattai/Kara Kozhukattai/Pidi Kozhukattai




The Upma Kozhukattai is one of the popular tiffin items in a Tambram household. These are nothing but steamed rice rava dumplings. They taste great with sambar and chutney.
Now there is story associated with these kozhukattais, which was told to me by my grandmother. I think many of you would be knowing it. But still I would like to share it here. I don’t remember the story to the T; please feel free to correct me. Also, please forgive my story telling skills :)

There was a lady with 6 girls. Everyday, she would make some snack/tiffin for them when they are back from school. One day, the mother prepared upma kozhukattais and kept them covered in a kadai. She had made exactly 6 in number. Now the first girl came back from school and said, “amma, I am hungry”, mother replied, “there are kozhukattais in the kitchen, take one and leave the remaining for your sisters. The girl took one and closed the vessel. Next girl came and asked the same “Amma, I am hungry”. Mother gave the same reply. This continued as one by one the girls came from school. Now the fifth girl was really hungy. So she ate the one extra. After eating, she realized that her mother would be mad when she found out that she had eaten her sister’s share.  She caught a frog and put it inside the vessel and closed it.
The last sister came home, and asked her mother for something to eat. Her mother gave the same reply. When she went and opened she saw the frog and immediately closed the lid. Then she started “Amma Amma, Kozhukattai ku kannum undo di” (mother mother, does the kozhukattai have eyes). Her mother is surprised at the question, and says what are you blaberring child, eat the kozhukatti and let me be in peace. The girl again starts “amma amma kozhukattai vayum undo di”, mother says no. The girl goes on. Finally mother gets very irritated and comes to the kitchen, and she opens the lid and gets a fright when the frog jumps out.
Finally the 5th girls gets good a scolding from her mother for having been so naughty.
Whenever I make kozhukattais, I automatically get reminded of this old story. 



Coming back to the kozhukattais, u can add a fistful of tuar dal and dried red chillies instead of green chillies while grinding the rice, that also gives a good taste. I have used the Rice Rava/idli rava also to make these kozhukattais and it comes out well. And saves the time of grinding the rice. Make sure to use good quality rice.

Makes about – 18
What you'll need
  1. Rice Rava – 2 cup *
  2. Scraped Coconut – ¾ cup
  3. Water – 4 cup
  4. Salt to taste

For tempering
  1. Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
  2. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
  3. Channa Dal/Kadala Paruppu – 1 tbsp
  4. Urad Dal/Ulutham Paruppu – ½ tbsp
  5. Asafoetida – a generous pinch
  6. Green Chillies – 1 or 2, chopped
  7. Curry Leaves – few

Method
  1. Heat a Kadai with oil, temper with mustard seeds, once the crackle add the channa dal, and urad dal and fry till the dals turn golden.
  2. Next add the asafoetida, green chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
  3. Now add the measured water, the water ratio should be 1:2, one part rice rawa and 2 parts water.
  4. Add the coconut gratings and salt to taste and let this come to rolling boil.
  5. Now, turn the heat to medium and slowly add the rice rava and stirring simultaneously.
  6. Keep stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, until all the water is evaporated and the whole thing comes together.
  7. Let it cool for few minutes, now dipping your hands in water, take a golf sized ball of the upma and shape them into round balls or oblong shapes, choice is yours. Repeat with rest of the upma.
  8. In a pressure cooker, pour some water, and place the kozhukattais in a steamer. Place it in the cooker and close the lid, keep on high, once the steam starts coming through the vent, reduce heat to low and steam for 10 to 15 minutes. U can use idlis mould too.
  9. Serve hot with chutney/Sambar.

Notes:
For making rice rava
Method 1:
Wash and rinse the rice well, then spread it on a cloth and let dry in shade. Pulse in mixie until rava consistency. Sieve and use.
Method 2:
If you forget to wash and dry the rice, then just pulse the rice in mixie until rava like, sieve and use.
Or
You can also use Idli Rava.
I have tried all the 3 equally good kozhukattais, though sieving is important when you grind the rice so as to remove the fine flour and get soft kozhukattais.



25 comments:

nandoos kitchen said...

yumm.. I prepare this for breakfast also.. Love it always

Subha said...

Amazing presentation!!! One of our favourite breakfast items..

Preetha said...

delicious just watching the revolution in and how our swantham Upma has changed....

Rafeeda AR said...

Haha... adipoli story... the kozhukkattas look delicious!

Unknown said...

Nice Post, and very funny story.

Unknown said...

Nice Post, and very funny story.

Padmini said...

I have heard this story....nostalgia indeed...lovely pics n I use idli rava for this recipe...

great-secret-of-life said...

nice snack / breakfast.. So tasty

Shabbu said...

yummy and cute kozhukattai...

Sona said...

Nice clicks,,, and the kozhukattai has come out really well..

Julie said...

healthy one,made perfect!!!

Radha Natarajan said...

only your cam can capture a simple dish like this and elevate to some designer
looking one, delicious post, I make this so very often with idli rice rava which gives an amazing texture like tiny pearls!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the Receipe.. It came out so well

Tumas Tongue Treats said...

Love Upma Kozhukkattai. Nice clicks

Unknown said...

One of my favorite snacks, loved the story:)

Kavita said...

Hey u reminded me of my childhood...this is even my sons favorite story..whenever i make Kozikattais he asks me for the same story..Fun naa that some yummy foods come with yummy stories...:)

Unknown said...

This is indeed a lovely tiffin item. Also, the same story from my mom. Only difference in my mom's recipe though is to add a ground paste of green chillies, ginger, few curry leaves and coconut along with a half cup of soaked toor dal. The toor dal is added after the other ingredients are ground well, and pulsed, so that it is coarsely ground. Now after seasoning, we add water and then the ground paste and the rest is the same is mentioned in your recipe. Please try it out, since those who have had Kozhakattai at my house, swear that its different and better and take the recipe from us.

divya iyer said...

That story sure does bring back a lot of memories.. nice recipe.. :)

latha mohan said...

Thanks for the recipe 😊 yes I hv heard this story with so much of curiosity when I was a kid just that my grandmother used to refer a rat to a frog in the same typical way like kozukatti ka vallu undodi, thnks for taking back interesting memory lane 👋

T.V.Ramakrishnan said...

Idli Rava Kozhukattai is easy to prepare. I have followed your steps and got nice kozukattais.
well the story is a very popular one and almost all the brahmins are aware of this as it was told to them at one time or orther in their childhood.
Well I have known this one and used to sing- when ?? 70 YEARS ago when I was just 9 years old!!!!!!!!
so know my age now

all the best.

Unknown said...

I rememberd listening to the story from my grandma...

Jayashree said...

In my childhood I used to pester my grandmother for stories. This was one of her stock stories. The other one was kuruvi and payasam

Jayashree said...

My MIL makes these kozhukattais in another method. arachu vitta kozhukattai. Is that a Palakkad speciality? She soaks the parboiled rice overnight and next day, grinds it along with grated coconut as coarse batter. Then in pan she prepares the tempering, adds the batter to it and cooks till it comes like a ball. Then make kozhukattais out of them and steam cooks them. The texture varies from pidi kozhukattai. These will be softer.

Anonymous said...

My mom adds a spoon of raw urad dal while pulsing for extra softness. A small spoon for a cup of raw rice

Anonymous said...

Yes we know the story.

We make the kizhakkattai well but we dont get the real taste.

Why we dont know

Any tips

Gita Ramaswamy Mumbai

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