Garugu Obattu | Holige with Riceflour-Coconut filling...Navaratri Special!!!!

Happy Navaratri to all my readers and friends!!!
Although my regular cooking is very much modernized, I still prefer to indulge in the traditional dishes occasionally and especially during festivals. I select a very simple menu for festivals(though few festivals are exceptions) and I would end up making some kheer,sundal and a variety rice which makes my job easier as hubby dear does not like me spending more time in kitchen.But I miss those traditional dishes which my mom makes and which I cherished growing up.We have lots of traditional dishes which I never got to make after my marriage because of my laziness but I crave for few of them and I ask my mom to make it for me when I visit her.

We make lots of holliges like Hoornada hollige(Pappu Obattu) ,Coconut Hollige, Sogasu Obattu,Sajjige Obattu(Sajjappa), Garugu Obattu and Paala Obattu(Haalu Hollige) which tastes best on its own and has its own importance for the festivals.I generally avoid making them, as they are time consuming but I want all of them to be there in my own space and hence started making(you can say learning) them slowly.
Coming to the holliges I mentioned above Sogasu hollige, Sajjige hollige and Garugu Hollige they all look similar and all are deep fried but the filling,taste and texture of each hollige is different from the other.Sogasu and Sajjige hollige uses rawa filling which is made differently for each hollige and where as garugu hollige uses rice flour filling.I know that it is very confusing if you are hearing all these names for the first time but once I put up all these recipes you can easily differentiate them.Now let us see how to make garugu obattu.Try this hollige on one of these navratri days and enjoy it.

Garugu Obattu | Holige with Rice flour filling Recipe:(yields 20-25 approx)

Ingredients:
for filling:
1 cup Rice flour
1 cup grated fresh Coconut
1 cup Milk
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped mixed Nuts(Cashews,Muskmelon seeds,Watermelon seeds)
1/2 tsp Elaichi powder

for kanaka(outer cover):
1 cup Chiroti/Hollige rawa(baarik rava)
a fat pinch of Salt
1/2 cup Oil(to soak the kanaka)
Oil for deep frying
Method:
for filling:

• Mix milk and rice flour without any lumps and add grated coconut and sugar to it and mix well until everything is mixed.
• Take a thick bottom big wide vessel and pour the mixture in it and let it cook over low flame.Keep stirring continuously until it forms a thick lump.The consistency should be thick enough to form laddus out of it.
• Add elaichi powder and chopped nuts to it and mix well.
• Let the mixture comes to room temperature.Make it into big lemon sized balls and arrange them in a plate and keep it covered until its usage.

for Kanaka:

• Mix chiroti rawa with a pinch of salt to it and add water to it and knead in to a very smooth dough.The consistency of the dough should be very loose than the regular roti dough.
• Now using your fist hit the dough for few mins to get the softer dough.
• Now place this dough in a deep vessel and pour oil over it until the dough is completely soaked in oil.Let the dough rest for a minimum of 1 hr and up to 2 hrs.Drain the excess oil and use it for other purpose.
• See the pics to get to know the consistency of the kanaka.

for making Garugu Obattu/Hollige:

• Cut the holige paper into a round and place it on the rolling stone which we use to roll rotis.Grease holige paper or banana leaf with oil.

• Pinch a small amla sized dough and flatten it a bit using your hands as shown in the pics and place one round of filling and seal it properly from all the edges like how we do for parathas.

• Now flatten it slowly with hands to get 3" diameter circle to the size of big pooris.It should not be very thick like paratha nor thin like rotis,it should be slightly thicker than poori.See the pictures for clear idea.

• Meanwhile heat oil for deep frying in a kadai and gently place the patted hollige in oil taking care that oil would not splutter.Deep fry them until they are slightly brown on both side.
• Drain them on kitchen towels to remove the extra oil.
• Repeat the process for making holliges,smear the hollige paper liberally with oil and follow the same procedure.

Serve them hot/warm or at room temperature.You can store them at room temperature for two days.
Notes:

1. Always make kanaka before proceeding to make filling which helps in saving time.
2. As these can be stored for two days you can make them ahead if you want.But the fresh ones are more crispier and tastier.
3. The addition of nuts is entirely optional but it adds a nice taste to every bite of hollige.
4. If you are a health freak instead of deep frying you can even fry it on tawa like how we do for parathas,they taste still good but the deep fried ones taste anytime better.

Thotakura Kaadala Pulusu | Amaranth Stems Stew

One of my cousins recently visited my place and she brought few yummy goodies from her home town and these amaranth stems are one of those goodies and they are also freshly plucked from her garden. When she gave them to me I really had no clue what to make with it and then I got the recipe from her to make this stew.Those stems sat in fridge for two days and started to wilt a bit that is when it caught my attention to make the stew immediately.I have paired it with simple potato fry and papad and I must say it was a simple home style meal and is perfect for a lunch.The amaranth stems were so tender to bite in and they also added nice flavor to the stew.The one's she brought were quite big almost the size of drumsticks and they are not easily available everywhere until and unless you have your own amaranth plant,if you do not get them just replace them with the small tender stalks of amaranth leaves(after the leaves plucked) which we get in market.
Thotakura Kadala Pulusu Recipe:(Serves 2)

Ingredients:
10-12 thick Amaranth stems
1 medium Onion,finely chopped
2 Garlic pods,crushed
2 Green chillies,slit
1 amla sized Tamarind
1 tbsp grated Jaggery
1 tbsp Rice flour
1/2 tsp Rasam powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

for tadka:
1 tsp Oil/Ghee
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
2-3 Red chillies
a sprig of Curry leaves
a fat pinch of Hing

Method:

• Remove/Peel the outer layer of those thick amaranth stems like how we do for drumsticks.Cut them into 1-2" long pieces.
• Soak tamarind in water and extract pulp and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add green chillies and crushed garlic and fry well.
• Add chopped onions and fry until they turn pink.
• Add the chopped amaranth stems and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add tamarind pulp and a cup of water,turmeric powder and salt and pressure cook for 1 whistle.
• Once the pressure drops,switch on the flame again and add jaggery,rasam powder and boil it.
• Mix rice flour with 2-3 tsp water and add it to the boiling stew and let it boil until it slightly thickens.Taste the stew and adjust the salt,sweetness and spicyness according to your taste buds.
• Heat oil/ghee in a small tadka pan and crackle mustard seeds and add red chillies,curry leaves and hing and fry for half minute and add this to stew and boil for 2-3 mins.

Serve it hot with hot rice,ghee,papad and some fry.I served it with alu fry and papad.

Notes:

1. In general cooked amaranth stems are tender and soft to eat,if it is hard then just chew them like how we do for drumsticks.
2. Addition of rasam powder is optional but it gives nice flavor,if you do not have it use coriander powder instead.
3. For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee in the recipe.

Jeera Aloo | Alu Jeera | Cumin Potatoes

You all know by now that how much I love these baby potatoes as I have already posted many recipes with it and I would like to use them where ever they can be easily replaced with the regular potatoes.Aloo jeera is generally prepared with cubes of alu but I feel that these baby potatoes add a pretty look to the dish.I tasted this for the first time from a colleague's lunch box,she had brought parathas with jeera alu and some North Indian achaar.I still remember how every one attacked her lunch box for a bite of this delicious potato and pickle with paratha.I fell in love instantly with the extremely flavorful jeera alu and I immediately took the recipe from her.The freshly roasted and ground masala does the trick and always keep the spices minimal to get the actual taste of the dish.This is a very dry dish and is ideal for traveling as well.Try this simple but extremely flavorful cumin potatoes and I am sure even you will fall in love with them like I did.

Jeera Alu Recipe:
(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:
15-18 Baby potatoes or 4 normal Potatoes
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Amchur powder
1 tbsp Coriander leaves
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

for tadka:
2 Green chillies,finely chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
a pinch of Hing
1 tbsp Oil
Method:

• Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer for 5 mins and switch off the flame.After the pressure drops,drain and cool the potatoes and peel the skins off.Prick the potatoes once or twice using a fork.If using regular potatoes,peel the skins off and cut into 1" cubes.
  
• Dry roast cumin seeds and coriander seeds until dark brown and then pound them in a mortar and pestle to a coarse powder.Take care not to burn those spices otherwise it will spoil the taste of it.
  
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add pricked boiled potatoes and shallow fry them on low-medium flame for 7-8 mins until you get to see the brown patches and they become crisp.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add hing and crackle cumin seeds and then add finely chopped green chillies and fry well until they are crisp.
• Add freshly ground coriander-cumin powder,amchur powder,red chili powder to the oil and add crispy fried baby potatoes and add enough salt and mix them well and let them roast on medium to high flame for another 3-4 mins.
• Add chopped coriander and mix well.

Serve them with parathas and North Indian achaar or with rotis or pulavs as a side dish.
Serve them hot as they are crispy when hot.Even when served at room temperature they tastes very nice and flavorful.
Notes:

1. This can be carried for journeys along with rotis,just avoid coriander leaves in the recipe.
2. Pricking the baby potatoes helps in not bursting and also it absorbs the masalas.
3. Always use freshly ground masala to this,it really gives a nice flavor to potatoes.
4. You can even add 1/2 tsp lemon juice to it for extra tangy punch.

Kandi Unta Majjiga Pulusu | Steamed Toor dal Dumplings in Yogurt Gravy

I am back to blogging after a small break and would be visiting all your blogs shortly.I missed all your yummy posts and my reader is full of unread posts which I would like to cover in a couple of days.
Now coming to the recipe,this is a bit time consuming dish but it is still delicious to eat and also a very healthy one as the dumplings are steamed and no frying is involved.The tanginess from the yogurt based gravy is a great compliment to the protein packed steamed toor dal dumplings.One can have the steamed dumplings as it is as a snack or eat them in the yogurt gravy with rice.
Kandi Unta Majjiga Pulusu Recipe:
(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:
for steamed toor dal dumplings:
1/2 cup Toor dal
1 cup finely chopped tender Drumstick leaves
1 medium Onion,finely chopped
1/2 cup grated Coconut
4-5 Green chillies
2 tbsp chopped Coriander
a sprig of Curry leaves,chopped
a fat pinch of cooking Soda
Salt to taste
Oil to grease the plates

for majjiga pulusu:
2 tbsp Toor dal,soaked
1 tsp Cumin seeds
3-4 Green chillies
1/2 cup grated fresh Coconut
1/2 tsp Tamarind pulp
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 cup fresh/sour Curds
1/2 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

for Tadka:
1 tsp Oil/Ghee
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
8-10 curry leaves
2 red chillies,broken
Method:
for Toor dal dumplings:

• Soak toor dal in water for 2 hrs.
• Grind green chillies and salt to a coarse paste.Add soaked toor dal and grind it slightly coarsely.
• Add enough water while grinding the batter should be slightly thick(not very thin and not hard,it should be slightly looser than masala wada batter)
• Add grated fresh coconut, finely chopped onions,chopped coriander,curry leaves,chopped drumstick leaves to it and mix well.
• Grease a plate with oil or line the plate with banana leaf if available.
• Add a pinch of soda to the batter and mix it well and shape them into round dumplings and steam it for 12-15 mins.
  

for majjiga Pulusu:

• Soak toor dal in water for 1 hr.
• Heat 1/2 tsp oil and roast green chillies until they wilt.
• Grind the roasted green chillies with salt,jeera,soaked toor dal,grated coconut,turmeric powder and tamarind pulp to a fine paste.
• Thin the sour/fresh curds and add the ground paste and boil over low flame.
• once it comes to boil add steamed dumplings and boil for 3-4 mins.
• Meanwhile heat a small tadka pan and add oil/ghee and add mustard seeds,hing,curry leaves and red chillies and add this tadka to majjiga pulusu.

Serve this with rice or eat it in a cup as it is as a snack.

Notes:

1. The batter for dumplings should not be very thick or thin,it should be slightly looser than the masala wada batter to get soft dumplings otherwise if the batter is very thick you will get hard dumplings.
2. Adding soda will ensure that you get soft airy dumplings.

Variations:

1. Addition of drumstick leaves is optional,but it is very healthy and adds a nice flavor to it.If you don't get it just avoid it and proceed with the same recipe.
2. The steamed toor dal dumplings can be eaten as a snack but I prefer them in majjiga pulusu as it adds nice taste to it.
3. You can even crumble the steamed toor dal dumplings in rice and add ghee and eat or you can drop these dumplings in rasam or coconut based gravies for variation.I will post even that version soon in my blog.

7 links game

Its been almost a week since my last post as I am bit busy as my in-laws came in last week.I plan to be back in action next week. Apologies to my friends as I am unable to visit your blogs and I promise that I would catch all those yummy posts very soon.

My friends Deepa and Suma have tagged me to do this unique and helpful game which really expresses a blogger concerns about her/his posts.So far many games and awards kept passing in blogging world but I feel this one is quite thoughtful.Some posts might have surprised us for its response and few would have disappointed us as they would have not got the appreciation which we would have expected in spite of our hard work in terms of arranging, photography, editing, writing the post.I feel this game gave us an opportunity to highlight the posts which we are proud of and are well appreciated by all and also the ones which could not get the attention it deserved.

My Most Beautiful Post: Eggless sponge cake with strawberry icing

I am neither a professional in baking nor in decorating the cakes,I am still taking baby steps in baking and decorating the cakes.I bake celebration cakes only on occasions and hence I do not experiment much with decorating the cakes.I have taken the basic idea of the design from Deeba's blog and used my imagination to create this cake and so far I feel this is my best creation and I am so proud of it.

My Most Popular Post : Mysore Masala Dosa

I am a very big fan of dosas and people who visit my blog regularly would have definitely known about it. Few of my friends call me 'Dosa Queen' and I am really honored for their generous words though I think I dont deserve that title.This masala dosa post was one of my initial posts and was a big hit among bloggers and surprisingly this is the post which got the highest number of hits in my blog and still continues to.Out of the top 5 posts with the highest hits in my blog,three of them are dosas(Mysore Masala Dosa,Rava Dosa and Paper Dosa) and I am really happy about it.

The Post I Am Most Proud Of : Checkered cake and Khara bread

I would like to choose two posts for this category.
I have seen Checkered cake in various blogs and most of them have used special pans to create this cake.The moment I saw this creation in Sunitha's space I was bowled over by the idea and the simplicity of making it without the pan and I thoroughly enjoyed making it.

My husband is a big fan of breads and when I made khara bread for the first time he loved the taste of it and he still appreciates me for the taste of it.Hence I am really proud of these two posts.

Most Useful Post: Savory Oats Porridge

Many of us prefer low calorie breakfast and oats porridge is the most preferred one.I am not a person who likes to eat oats in sweet form and hence with trial and error I have found this version,which is a favorite oats item for us. Few of the blogger friends even tried and also appreciated this and this post also receives more number of hits in my blog.

Surprise Success Post : Mumbai Vegetable Sandwich

Sometimes few posts get a much better response than expected and surprisingly when I posted Vegetable sandwich, I thought it was a simple post but many of our blogger friends appreciated this and this post has received the second highest number of hits in my blog.

Most controversial post: thankfully none

I generally do not like get into controversies and so are my posts.I am thankful that none of my posts were controversial so far.

Post Which Deserves Attention, But Did Not Get As Much : Kudumulu/Modak

I think it is quite common for all bloggers that we expect the post would receive much attention but it would not get as much as we had expected and there could be many reasons for that. This post did not receive much attention as I had posted this one on the festival day itself.I assume the reason might be as it was the festival day most of us would be busy and also that most of us have posted similar recipes on that day.

Now comes my turn to pass this to few more friends to help continue this chain.As few of my friends have already been tagged for this, I would like to pass this to
Priti of Indian Khana
Lubna of Yummy Food
Pavithra of Dishes from my Kitchen
Sharmi of Sharmi's Passions
Sushma of Savi-Ruchi
Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore

I hope they would also have fun and make this game more interesting.

Kabuli Chana Sundal | Chickpeas Sundal

We always make a variety of sundal for any festival as it not only adds the number of items to the menu but also it is very easy to prepare and an absolutely guilt free snack to compensate the extra calories from the fried stuff and sweets made on festivals.Hubby is a big fan of sundal especially when made with kala chana,as I did not have them at that moment I went ahead with kabuli chana and made this along with Kudumulu for Ganesh Chaturthi.This is a perfect guilt free snack which can be served as a snack or as a side dish in lunch or breakfast.

Kabuli Chana Sundal Recipe:
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 cup Kabuli Channa(white chole)
2-3 tbsp grated fresh Coconut
4-5 Green chillies,sliced
1 tsp chopped Coriander,to garnish
juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste

to temper:
1 tbsp Chana dal
1 tsp Urad dal
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
a sprig of Curry leaves
a pinch of Hing
1 tbsp Oil
Method:

• Soak Chana overnight or at least for 8-9 hrs and pressure cook for 3 whistles until soft.The Chana should be soft and firm to touch and should not be either hard or mushy. You can add salt while cooking chana or add it at the time of tempering.
• Drain the chana and keep it aside,you can use this drained water to make healthy rasam.
• Grind grated coconut and green chillies to a coarse paste in whipper mode.
• Heat oil in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds and add chana dal and urad dal and let them turn slight brown.
• Add hing,curry leaves and ground coconut-green chilli paste and fry it for a minute.
• Add cooked and drained chana and required amount of salt and mix well and cook it on low flame for 2 mins.
• Switch off the flame and add lemon juice and coriander leaves and mix well.

Serve them hot,warm or cold as a snack or with lunch.
Variations:

1. You can replace kabuli chana with kala chana,lobia,green gram,yellow peas or chana dal for variation or you can even use mix of these legumes to make variety sundal.
2. You can even add a small piece of ginger while grinding coconut and green chillies,it adds nice flavor.
3. You can add red chillies while tempering and reduce the green chillies in the recipe.

Chilli Parotta

I rarely have left over parottas/rotis at home and recently I had some two left over tandoori rotis from the previous night's heavy dinner.What better way to use them other than making this chili parotta for breakfast and I must say it was a simple and spicy one pot meal and we both enjoyed this.I have used pav bhaji masala in the recipe which is the star ingredient of the dish making it extra tasty and giving a nice punch to the recipe,So do not miss this masala in the recipe.This is a real spicy one and is definitely a pleasure for the taste buds.Try it out to believe what I have said about this recipe.
Chilli Parotta Recipe:
(serves 2)

Ingredients:
2 frozen Parottas or left over parottas/rotis/chapati
1/4 cup shredded Cabbage
1 big Capsicum,sliced
1 Onion,diced
1 Tomato,finely chopped
2 Green chillies,finely chopped
3-4 Garlic pods,finely chopped
1/2" Ginger,finely chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped Coriander
4-5 Curry leaves
2-3 Spring onion greens,finely chopped(optional)
juice of half Lemon
1 tbsp Tomato sauce
3/4 tsp Pav Bhaji masala powder
1/4 tsp Garam masala
1/4 tsp Red chili powder
a pinch of turmeric powder
salt to taste
3 tbsp Oil(you can even use Olive oil)

Method:

• Cut or torn roughly the parottas/rotis into bite size pieces and keep them aside.If you are using frozen parottas,make sure you roast them well until crisp on a tawa before you use.
• Heat oil in a big kadai/wok and add finely chopped garlic and ginger and saute them over a high flame.
• Add finely chopped green chillies,curry leaves and diced onions and fry them until they turn slight pink.
• Add shredded cabbage and capsicum and fry them over high flame.Maintain the crunchiness of the vegetables by just sauteing it for few minutes.
• Add pav bhaji masala,garam masala,turmeric powder,chili powder,salt and tomato sauce and fry until the raw smell of masalas goes away.
• Add torn parotta/roti pieces to this and give a good stir until all the masala has coated the parotta pieces nicely and let it roast for 1-2 mins on medium to high flame.
• Add spring onion greens,coriander leaves and lemon juice at the end and mix well.

Serve it piping hot as breakfast or dinner or evening snack with some onion raitha or as it is.

Variations:

1. You can even add grated carrots in the above recipe.
2. You can even add colored bell peppers along with capsicum in the recipe.
3. You can even add eggs to make it chilli egg parotta.Add the eggs(yellow+white) along with the other masalas and fry until the eggs are done.
4. You can make this in Chinese version,avoid adding dry masalas and instead add soya sauce and pepper powder in the recipe.
5. This recipe is slightly spicier,if you want you can avoid chili powder and reduce the quantity of pav bhaji masala powder in it.

Kudumulu | Modak with three stuffings for Ganesh Chaturthi

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all my viewers and friends!!!
All my fellow bloggers have already posted the recipes for Ganesh Chaturthi,though I am bit late I wanted to post this on the festival day itself.This year I am celebrating the festival at mom's place and I have just finished eating a platter of kudumulu before started writing this post.
Ganesh chaturthi is a very big festival for us and also it is the most favorite one for me as I have sweet memories associated with this festival.Right from the childhood I used to wait for this big festival as it was always fun to arrange the things for the festival and also indulge in one of my favorite sweet(kudumulu).This was my last year's Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at mumbai.

Every year on the day of festival morning I used to accompany my dad to bring the colorful Ganesh Idol and all the other necessary items for the festival.It was always fun to decorate the pooja room and arrange the idol and decorate with flowers and all and it was my fixed job every year while mom would be busy making prasadam and festival specials.Though the pooja process is bit lengthy it was really fun as this is the only festival where our entire family sit together and do pooja till the end with so much of attention.The menu for this festival is almost fixed every year due to the restrictions of the ingredients to be used and also they are apparently lord Ganesha's favorites.

Our usual menu on this festival includes Nooka Idli(not the regular idli rawa one) with coconut chutney for breakfast and of course kudumulu are served along with breakfast and the lunch menu varies with different vegetables,sundal,rasam,dal and also we make different lentil dumplings for this festival especially.

Kudumulu or popularly called modak in Maharastra is done in different ways all over the country with minor modifications and the outer cover being made with rice flour and mostly the filling would be made with coconut.But we make the other fillings with sesame,ground nut and khus khus which are equally delicious and are preferred by me than the regular coconut fillings.My mom has to make more quantity of the fillings as I eat them just like that in a cup even after the ganesha festival.
Check out other important recipes for Vinayaka Chavithi:

• Steamed Kudumulu - with 3 fillings
• Karida Bele Kadubu | Fried Modak
• Bellam Kudumulu | Vella Ammini Kozhukattai
• Paal Kozhukattai | Undralla Payasam
• Puran Poli
• Dry fruit Modak | Kharjur Modak
• Pappulo Undrallu
• Palathalikalu
• Undraalu with Biyyam rava - Andhra recipe
• Avarekaalu Kadubu/Spiced Steamed Rice flour Dumplings
• Chintapandu pulihora - Andhra style

For a complete list of various options for Ganesh Chaturthi menu, check out here.

Kudumulu | Modak Recipe:
(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

for the outer cover(dough):
1 cup Rice flour *(use freshly home made)
1 handful Maida
2 cups Water
a pinch of Salt
1 tsp Oil

for coconut filling:
1 cup grated Coconut
1 cup grated Jaggery
1/2 tsp Elaichi powder

for sesame filling:
1/2 cup white Sesame seeds
1/2 cup grated Jaggery

for groundnut filling:
1/2 cup roasted and skinned Groundnuts
1/2 cup grated jaggery


Method:
making coconut stuffing:

• In a kadai mix grated coconut and jaggery and cook it on a low-medium flame until the jaggery melts and coats the coconut and form a thick dry and sticky lumpy mixture.It takes 10-12 minutes and keep stirring it occasionally.
• Add cardamom powder to it and mix well and let the mixture cool completely and store it in air tight container.
• You can make it on the previous day itself and store at room temperature which eases the process on the festival day.

making sesame stuffing:

• Dry roast sesame seeds overmedium flame for 3-4 mins until they smell nice.
• Grind sesame seeds to a powder in the mixie and add grated jaggery to it and run it again to get a uniform mixture.
• Store it in air tight container.Make this on the previous day itself to ease up the process on the festival day.

making groundnut stuffing:

• Grind roasted and skinned groundnuts to a powder in the mixie and add grated jaggery to it and run it again to get a uniform mixture.
• Store it in air tight container.Make this on the previous day itself to ease up the process on the festival day.

making dough:

• Boil 2 cups of water and add salt and oil to it and let it bubble properly.
• Add rice flour and maida to it and do not mix it and reduce the flame for 10 mins.Let it cook over the steam either by covering the vessel only half the portion with a lid or cook without lid.
• Now remove half glass of water from the sides and mix the flours into the remaining water vigorously until it is properly mixed.While making this process if you feel the dough is hard keep adding the water which is removed aside.The water quantity depends on the flour quality and hence it is always better to remove some water and add it if required.
• Cover it with lid and let it come to the room temperature but still warm.
• Now grease your hands well and knead the dough in small portion until you get a smooth and lump free dough,this helps in making smooth and crack free kudumulu.

making kudumulu:

• Grease your hands and divide the dough into small amla sized balls.
• Cut a polythene sheet into two equal squares or rounds and wash and dry them and grease one of the sides.

• Place them on one each side of a poori press and place a rice flour ball in the center and press in the poori presser as shown in the picture.Do not make it very thin or very thick,it should be of the thickness as shown in the pic.You can even make like a cup with hands,but this process needs so much of practice or you can even use modak mold to shape it,but the method I mentioned is the most easiest and less time consuming process.

• Now pick it up with the cover and keep a tbsp of your desired stuffings which are made and press it(press along with the cover)to make a semi circular shape.Remove the ready kudumu and place it in a greased plate which fits in the cooker/steamer.You can even twist the edges to give a design or you can leave it as it is.
• Repeat the process and make all the kudumulu with all the different three stuffings and place them in three different plates and steam them in cooker/steamer with out whistle for 8-10 mins.The outer cover would be bit shiny and light colored.Keep them covered.

Serve them hot/warm with some ghee over it.

*Rice flour Preparation at home: Wash the rice nicely and spread on a cloth and let it dry in shade completely.Grind it to a fine powder in a mill or at your house in a mixie and sieve the floor.You can use it immediately,if you want to store then spread the floor on the cloth for a day in shade and store it in air tight container.This stays fresh for 2-3 months and can be used for many varieties.For modak/kudumulu especially this kind of rice flour is used.

Notes:

1. It is always better to make the filling a day before which will save lot of time on the festival day.
2. Always use good quality rice flour for kudumulu otherwise they might not turn good and some might even break.
3. I have made kudumulu in a easier way,if you want to shape them into modaks,check this page for more details with a video.
4. For a vegan version avoid adding ghee to the finished product.

Variations:

1. You can use sugar instead of jaggery in all the three fillings,just replace grated jaggery with equal quantity of sugar in the recipe and follow the same procedure.
2. You can even use ghee roasted finely chopped cashew nuts in coconut filling,however it is optional.

If you want an easy deep fried version of Modak which is called Karida Kadubu (Fried modak), please check out this recipe.