Kozhukkatta

Kozhukkatta, have a lot of images in me. It can be prepared in umpteen ways. But this is from my dearest friend, filled with lot of love and care. She had sent me this recipe and the image from Bangalore. Simple things can trigger a stream of memories. Dedicating this sweet post to my friend and praying for her family.

Recipe of kozhukkatta(Steamed rice dumplings filled with sweet)

Rice flour-2 cups

jaggery-1/2 cup

shredded coconut-1/2 cup

Salt-as needed

Ghee-2 tsp(optional)

Cardamom-2 powdered (optional)

Method

For the filling

Mix shredded coconut with ghee, grated jaggery and cardamom powder.

Mix the rice flour with small amount of salt. Make it a dough using warm water. Make small balls from the dough. Make a big depression inside the ball and fill the sweet filling then close it. We can make it a perfect ball by shaping it. Steam these balls for 20 minutes.

The perfect kozhukkatta I had eaten is from my neighbour. Its their custom to make these sweet balls on the day of 'Kuruthola perunnal'(Palm sunday). This perunnal had a local name as 'Kozhukkatta perunnal'. She always made a perfect ball.

In her recipe she will always make 'Sharkara pani' for the filling, all the other things are same.

For making sharkara pani we have to melt jaggery with 1/4 cup of water , then strain it. Then we can add the coconut.

The other images are of the 'Nadan kozhukkatta' made by my mother. I had not tried to make it. Its with Kuthari. We have to soak the rice for 6 hours. Then grind the rice with salt, one spoon full of cumin seeds and half cup of shredded coconut. It must half grind, and the water content must not be too much. Make small round balls with the half grind rice mixture. Cooking method is also different, this kozhukkatta is not steamed instead of that we put these balls in boiling water and close it for almost half an hour. After that we can take it from the water and the water which is called 'Kozhukkatta vellam' is also very tasty. We can have this with little sugar.

These sweet snack can be made with different types of filling. We can make it with coconut filling only for adults. We can fill it with coconut scrapes with sugar. I like this taste more than jaggery, its also easier than the other type. Another variety is with aval(poha) filling. Aval with jaggery and coconut is a common combination. We always make it with 'Chakkavaratti' its the jam made with jack fruits. This filling is very tasty. My in law's make this kozhukkatta with green gram, jaggery and coconut mixture. If you are too health concious you can make the filling with sprouts also. In this filling we can add nuts and raisins for extra taste. It is considered as sweet snack with coffee(nalu mani palaharam), it can be served as a break fast item. Anyway its an easy and healthy snack for children.