Rediff reader and food blogger Jofy Abraham shared this melt-in-your-mouth recipe for Christmas.
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Soft, tender rice flour balls swimming in sweetened coconut milk, Paal Kozhukattai is a comfort dessert for any feast," says Jofy.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour (I used readymade rice flour)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup hot water + 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups thin coconut milk
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- 6 whole cardamoms
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1/2 cup sugar (or as per taste)
Method
Step 1
- Prepare thick and thin coconut milk. Thick coconut milk is the first extract whereas thin coconut milk is the combination of second and third extract.
Step 2
- Powder sugar and cardamom together. Sieve it and keep aside.
Step 3
- Mix one cup rice flour, salt, 1 tsp powdered sugar, one cup hot water and 1/2 cup milk in a non stick kadhai. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Put the kadai over low flame. Keep stirring till the flour is cooked.
- Stir constantly so that the batter thickens.
Step 4
- Rice flour does not have gluten – the glue that holds the dough together. So mixing water with rice flour will not make a dough, unlike wheat flour, which has gluten.
- So keep stirring until the dough leaves the sides of the pan. The endpoint of the flour-cooking is in the picture above.
Step 5
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and add ghee.
Step 6
- Knead it into a soft dough using your hand.
Step 7
- Apply some ghee on your fingers and make small balls.
Step 8
- Boil thin coconut milk in a wide pan that can hold all the flour balls. It will start boiling in 2 to 3 minutes. Do not over-boil as coconut milk curdles.
- Once it comes to a boil, add the flour balls slowly and cook on medium flame for the next five minutes.
Step 9
- Add the sieved sugar cardamom mixture, stir gently until sugar is dissolved. Let it simmer for two minutes. I added two extra cardamom pods.
- Add thick coconut milk and switch off the flame. Serve hot.
Notes
- Coconut milk can be replaced by using water boiled with ready made coconut milk powder as well.
- To make thin coconut milk, mix 1 and 1/2 cup of lukewarm water with 15 per cent of a 50 gm coconut milk powder pack.
- To make thick coconut milk, mix 1 cup of lukewarm water with remaining of the 50 gm coconut milk powder pack.
- Switch off the flame once you add thick coconut milk. Else it will curdle.
- Please note the flame levels I have mentioned in the recipe. That would help to avoid curdling of coconut milks at any point.
- The rice dough should not be sticky. If the dough is sticky, it means it is not cooked well.
- I have used sugar, you can replace with jaggery.
Photos: foodieadamandcookieeve.wordpress.com
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