The 10-day festival of Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in the South in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu as much as it is in Maharashtra and Goa.
Modaks or sweet rice flour dumplings, filled with coconut, jaggery, dry fruits, are the conventional prasad or naivedyam or offering at Ganesh Chaturthi, in most parts of India, as it is believed to be Lord Ganesha's favourite food. But there are other traditional dishes like Bobbatlu, Payasam, Palathalikalu, Rava Kesari, that are prepared in South India, including some savoury dishes like Sundal and Pulihora.
So, this Ganesh Chaturthi, try your hand at Ulundu Kozhukattai
Rajeswari Vijayanand, who is Singapore-based, but hails from Chennai, blogs at Raks Kitchen. She offers a recipe for the savoury version of modaks from Tamil Nadu.
Ulundu Kozhukattai or Uppu Kozhukattai has a rice dough outer covering and a spicy urad dal stuffing. It is one of the main dishes served up during Vinayak Chathurthi celebrations.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Rajeswari Vijayanand
Ulundu Kozhukattai
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- ½ cup urad dal or white gram, soaked for an hour or more
- 4 green chillies
- ½ cup freshly grated coconut, optional
- Salt to taste, about ½ tsp
- ½ tsp rai or mustard seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon hing or asafoetida
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves
For the outer layer/covering:
- 1 cup idiyappam flour or homemade processed rice flour
- 1⅓ cup water or as needed
- 1 tsp til or sesame oil + a little extra for kneading
- Pinch salt
Method
For the outer layer:
- Bring the water to a boil over high heat, with the oil (add salt if the flour doesn't have salt).
In a large bowl, add the flour and gradually add the boiling water and mix using a ladle.
Let it cool for about 5 minutes and while still warm knead, with greased hands, to make a smooth dough.
The consistency should be like chapati dough, non-sticky.
- Keep covered till use, to prevent drying.
For the stuffing:
- In a mixer/blender, grind the green chillies with the salt and half of the asafoetida.
Then add the well-drained urad dal and run the mixer only twice or thrice to get a coarse consistency.
Make sure the urad dal is not ground to smooth; it must remain coarse.
- On a greased idli plate, steam this mixture in idly steamer for 8-10 minutes.
Cool and crumble it and keep aside.
- In a large saucepan or kadhai, heat the oil over medium heat and add the mustard seeds, the remaining asafoetida, curry leaves.
Let splutter.
Add in the steamed mixture and fry over medium heat till the mixture becomes dry; approximately 3 minutes.
Lastly, add the grated coconut and fry for a minute more.
This mixture should be fluffy.
Adding coconut is optional, but enhances the taste considerably.
Assembly of the kozhukattai:
- Divide the dough into balls of 1½-inch diameter
Grease your hands with sesame oil and take a ball and knead well in your hand to make smoother.
Start by thinning from outside and work towards the middle to make a shallow bowl shape.
Fill a tbsp of the prepared stuffing using a teaspoon.
Then fold and seal the edges.
Optionally fold decoratively too.
- Repeat for the rest of the balls.
- Steam the stuffed kozhukattai, by placing on a greased idli plate, till soft and moist for 5 to 8 minutes!