Palada Pradhaman (pudding) is a very famous sweet dish in Kerala. It is made using rice flakes, jaggery syrup and coconut milk. These days the rice flakes (called ada) are readily available in Indian grocery stores. Also originally whole coconut is grated and ground to extract the milk in 3 stages, which is called the first milk, second milk and third milk. But nowadays both coconut milk and coconut milk powder are readily available, making the process of preparing pradhaman very easy.

I found this recipe for preparing Oats Pradhaman in a magazine. As I have mentioned earlier the recipe calls for coconut milk prepared right from scratch. So I have modified the recipe to simplify the procedure by using store bought canned coconut milk. The pradaman was yummy. It did not taste like oats at all.

This is my entry for Vaishali’s Sweet Vegan.

It seemed like Navarathri started just now and it’s already the 9th day, Saraswathi Pooja. Happy Pooja holidays everybody. We prepare a lot of sweets and sundals these holidays, but “puttu” is very important and our favorite too.

This puttu is different from what the Keralites prepare. It’s made with rice flour, grated coconut and jaggery. The process is also time consuming but worth every effort. Traditionally it’s prepared by soaking raw rice in water, draining it, spreading it on a cloth and powdering the rice, while the rice is still damp. But to make the process more simple store bought rice flour is used. This is especially prepared on a Friday and is distributed to everybody who visits our home to see the Golu. I’ve prepared it successfully a couple of times 3 years back, but now I have totally forgotten the procedure. Fortunately my mother is here and she prepared it this time. It came out very well and I wanted to record it before I forget it once again.

This is my entry for the following events:
1. Vaishali’s Sweet Vegan.
2. Srivalli’s JFI-Festival Treats.

When I was growing up, my favorite after school snack was the pela pindi undalu my grandmother used to prepare for me. It’s powdered toasted rice, shaped into balls adding either jaggery or sugar. It’s nothing fancy but I just loved it and still am a big fan. My grandmother used to prepare the powder for me in bulk and send it to me until she passed away last year, so I did not get a chance to make it myself. I wanted to introduced this traditional dish to my son, so I started the process. I can’t believe how painstaking task it is and I’m floored by the fact that she made this for me each and every time I wanted this. She prepared it for me even 2 years back when I was pregnant and she was 77 years old. I think I should have chosen this recipe to pay my tribute to my grandmother for the JFI – Love event. Now let’s proceed to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Raw Rice – 3 cups (I used 3 cups of rice and got 2.5 cups of powder.)

Procedure:
Wash the rice a couple of times, drain it in a colander completely and spread it on a clean cloth or unprinted paper. Let it dry for 3 hours. Now toast a handful of rice in a dry frying pan. It has to be nice and golden brown. Don’t toast all the rice at once. The key point is that all the rice should be toasted evenly and should not get burnt. That’s why it’s done little by little. This is how it’s done originally. By the time I toasted 1 cup of the rice, my knees were paining like anything and moreover the rice was not toasted evenly also. I think if it’s a gas stove the process can be completed a little quickly. I have an electric range. When I reduced the heat, it was not getting browned, but when I increased the heat, it was getting burnt.

So I got an idea of toasting it in the microwave oven. But that also did not give the result I expected. Then I spread the rice in a cookie sheet and toasted it in the oven at 350 F until the rice was golden brown (approx. 35-40 minutes). Keep checking it every 10 minutes and give it a toss. The rice was toasted perfectly. Let it cool down for a while and then powder it in a blender/food processor. Store it in a clean air tight container.

Here is the close-up shot of the rice toasted using a frying pan.  Notice that it is not toasted evenly. 

Rice toasted in the oven.

Comparison:

Ingredients for the undalu/urundai:
Toasted Rice Powder
Powdered Jaggery or Sugar
Ghee, 1-2 teaspoons
Milk, as required.

Procedure:
Combine all the ingredients and shape into balls, like you would prepare rava laddus. Add ghee or milk as required to get the correct consistency.  Personally I prefer the jaggery undalu.

Can you let me know what this dish is called in your language?

Also please vote for me here, if you like my Ragi Kozhukattai.

As most of you know I’m relatively a newcomer to the food blogosphere.  I started my blog on 14th of March 2008.  Around the 2nd week of April I came to know about Dining Hall (the old one) and Food Blog Desam and sent mails to be a part of it.  I received mails stating that both these forums were not active.  So when I found out about the new Dining Hall I was really surprised and thrilled both at the same time.  Thank you very much Siri and DK for doing this.  They have started this new forum with a bang.  One among the many creative ideas they are upto is the International Food League’s Open Sesame Contest.  To make it short, we have to solve a riddle, for which the answer is an ingredient with which we have to cook and if you are lucky enough you may also end up with a prize!

This was my riddle:
I am old and ancient and in many places a staple
health and longevity are wonders I wear like a lapel

My different forms give different taste
one form is enjoyed in the mornings – eaten in haste!
Another form is in form of soups and porridge
Or in forms of plain or stuffed breads

I thrive in the hot summers..But make you feel good and warm
I am good to people although many just use me for feeding birds and cattle in farms
I am just no mean and lowly grass with striking resemblance to maize
I have ‘pearls’ of wisdom to share if you want, to listen to me with grace

People with celiac turn to me
I give you fibre and irons, so rich i am for the world to see
Now sit tight and give it a hard thought – be clever be sane
to guess who I am, the highly nutritious and healthful whole grain.

As soon as I read the riddle I thought of 3 grains:

1.  “enjoyed in the mornings – eaten in haste” – oats
2.  “pearls of wisdom” – I thought may be pearl barley
3.  “feeding birds and cattle in farms’ – millet

So first, I emailed Siri with oats as the answer, but she replied that it’s not oats.  Then I googled barley and celiac disease and found that people with the disease should not consume barley.  Then I googled celiac and millets and found that it’s good for the disease, so emailed that and found that it was the correct answer.

Reason for chosing this particular recipe:
There are many types of millets and the dishes that can be prepared with those are also countless.  Since I love baking, I thought of baking millet bread.  As mentioned in the riddle, I also came across a wonderful recipe for a stuffed bread using millets.  It looked so yummy and simple to bake too.  Instead I chose finger millet (ragi) and this kozhukattai (dumpling) recipe because the ingredients are easily available and anybody can make this.  Not everybody will be interested in baking or everybody has an oven.  So I wanted to make something very simple, delicious and nutritious too.  I have made the very same kozhukattai 3 years back when I saw the recipe in a Tamil magazine.  Unfortunately I did not save the recipe.  So I was searching the net for the recipe and to my luck, the very same recipe was published in another Tamil magazine very recently.

Ingredients:
Finger Millet Flour (Ragi flour) – 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery – 3/4ths of a cup
Mung Daal – 1/2 a cup
Coconut, grated – 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon

Procedure:
1.  In a frying pan, dry roast the mung daal for 2-3 minutes and cook it.  Note that the daal should not be cooked completely.  Don’t use a pressure cooker, it will become very mushy.  In a saucepan add 2 cups of water and let it cook for a couple of minutes.  It should be par boiled.  Now drain this and keep it aside.

2.  While the daal is cooking, dry roast the ragi flour also for a couple of minutes.  Ragi flour tends to lump and is sticky also.  To avoid that, the flour is just heated for sometime.

3.  Combine the ragi flour, grated coconut, cardamom powder and cooked mung daal.

4.  In a saucepan add the jaggery and water just enough to cover the jaggery and heat it.  Once the jaggery dissolves filter the solution to get rid of impurities.  Now pour the liquid back into the saucepan and boil it for another 2-3 minutes.

5.  Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and combine to form a dough.  Add some water/milk if required.  Now pinch golf ball size dough and shape it into cylinders in your palm making a fist.  I got 11 dumplings for the above measurement.

6.  Place it in an idli plate and steam it just like you would steam idlis, but for an additional 10 minutes.

Ragi kozhukattai was very delicious.  We all loved it.   It’s a very healthy after school snack for kids,  without oil and white sugar.  Enjoy!

My Notes:
1.  As mentioned earlier, steam the kozhukattai for more time than you would steam idlis.  Mine did not cook properly in the inside, so I had to steam it for another 10 minutes and it was done perfect.

2.  Also eat it immediately, it hardens after a while.