Upma Kozhukattai is a delicious savoury steamed dumpling made with broken rice and lentils. Perfect for a snack or dinner. Made for Ganpati festival too.
Inititation to Upma Kozhukattai
Upma Kozhukottai is a rather new addition to my kitchen, about two decades old – I didn’t eat this during my growing up years, and the first time was after my marriage when my (late) MIL made it for dinner. I had it just once, but was never kicked up about the taste earlier, but the flavour of the coconut oil she used was a game changer.
And the deluge of Kozhukottai (steamed rice dumplings) in the blogosphere got me excited enough since I am always on the lookout for steamed and healthy snacks or eats, and this was one filling yet tasty and almost oil-free snack that we now make quite frequently, much to the husband man’s happiness who LOVESS this dish. What’s more, kiddo liked it and even asked for it to be made once as an after-school snack : so there I was – happy to discover a new dish.. win-win-win!
It helps if you have homemade Rice Rava (broken rice) to make this as the texture of the upma from the readymade broken rice and what is made exclusively for this dish varies a little, although both
methods yield the same taste. If you are a fan of kozhukattai, also try this Brown rice Kara Pidi Kozhukattai – a delicacy from Tamilnadu.
This dish is also apparently prepared for naivedyam (offering to God) for Ganpati festival, which is what I also did when I made it for the first time, and every year since then, this is a must make for the festival along with Ammini Kozhukattai (tiny rice flour dumplings, steamed and tempered)
Prep time : 15 mins | Cook time : 10 mins | Serves : 3
Cuisine – South Indian , Course – Snack / Dinner
Serving suggestions : Any Chettinad Kara Chutney / Tamarind gravy or Coconut Chutney
Broken Rice and lentils savoury steamed dumplings
Ingredients :
- 1 cup Homemade Broken Rice Rava – 1 cup (or Short grained rice, See notes for more details)
- 3 Pigeon pea (Thoor Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu
- 3 Dry Red chillies (adjust spice)
- 1 TBSP Cumin (Jeera / jeeragam)
- 15 Black peppercorns (Milagu, Kalimirch adjust spice)
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida (Perungayam / Hing- a generous pinch, skip for Gluten Free)
- 1 tsp Salt (or to taste)
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 2 TBSP Coconut Oil (can sub with GIngelly / sesame oil OR any neutral oil, not mustard oil)
- 3 TBSP Grated coconut (do not skip)
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds (kadugu, rai), Urad Dal
Method:
Blitz the dry lentil (Toor Dal) in a spice grinder to the same consistency
(size) as of the Broken Rice
(If using Raw rice, Blitz the rice and Dal together for a few seconds
each till you get medium sized grains)
Dry roast cumin and powder it along with black pepper and red chillies
once in a spice grinder (Alternatively
you can also blitz this along with the Toor Dal)
Bring 2.5 cups of water to a rolling boil.
In a non stick pan (I used a handi kind of pot), heat the oil., Temper
the mustard, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida. Once the curry leaves wilt
a bit, add the ground rice and dal – spice mixture and roast for a few minutes.
Add salt and check for spices.
Now add the boiling water and mix well. Cook covered for 10-12 minutes
till the rice is cooked but not mushy (this cooking time will vary depending on
the quality of rice).
Add grated coconut and mix well.
Let the mixture cool a bit. Now grease your hands a bit with ghee / oil,
and make small dumplings when the mixture is warm, but not completely cooled. The
consistency of the cooked rice-dal-spice mixture must be good enough to make dumplings
without breaking (if required add a little more grated coconut for binding)
Steam in a Idli maker or on greased Idli plates for 7-8 minutes. Check with a skewer or toothpick to see if
they come out clean
Cool a bit and serve immediately with coconut chuntey or any gojju.
Omg kozhukattai with upma looks super yummy dear !! 🙂 they are making me drool here 🙂
Upma kozukattai looks delicious ..nice !
Very nice savory kozhukattai..and such festive picture!
Kalyani kozhukattais looks superb 🙂
Excellent recipe, love this steamed ,guilt free kozhukattais very much.
So guilt free and perfect for evening tiffin!!!
Sowmya
Nice Recipe kalyani
look so colorful and delicious
i think this will work for me, i have not made kozukattai yet, this is good option to start…lovely
Look delicious and tasty… 🙂
Picture looks very festive!
Healthy snack.Looks nice 🙂
Fantastic recipe.
Kozhukkatai looks yumm and pillayar romba nalla irukkar
Very similar to Andhra undrallu but kicked up couple of notches 🙂
I too wasn't keen on upma kozhukkatai earlier, but taste changes a lot as we grow older :-)…
Well i have never eaten kozhukattai before. But these are beautiful enough for me to try a batch.:)
Even I prepare this kozhukattai but addition of toor dhal is new to me. Looks very inviting…
I am actually going through each and every recipe. You have a great blog and I am a follower now….Great job