Pidi kozhukkattai is a simple, easy, and traditional recipe of South India. Generally, raw or par boiled rice or rice flour is used to make these kozhukkattais. Nowadays, ragi flour is also used to make these Indian dumplings to enrich the nutritional value.
I have used rava along with the dhals to make these kozhukkattais. In this recipe here, white rava is used. The wheat rava can also be used to enhance the fiber content of the dish. Also, vegetables have also been incorporated into this so that they are also included in our food intake. A steamed dish is never an hazard to your stomach and is easily digestible. Such is the advantage of indian cooking.
I almost regularly watch Mrs. Revathi Shanmugam's cookery shows on TV channels and this recipe is one amongst those I got to watch. Most times, my mother-in-law, who is very fond of cooking and an expert too, notes the recipes down in her book and suggests me to try them when I become blank on what to do for breakfast or dinner. So, that's how we tried doing this recipe, and needless to say, all of us in our family liked this simple and easily digestible kozhukkattai. Even my daughter, who is not very fond of the old traditional recipes, accepted it to be good. Yay, I have another addition in my breakfast menu list that can be done anytime and with great ease that is healthier too.
And, here goes the recipe...
Ingredients:
White (Bombay) Rava - 1 cup
Bengal Gram Dhal (Kadala paruppu) - 1/2 cup
Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup
Oil - 4 to 5 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Carrot - 1 (chopped)
Onion - 1 (chopped)
Cabbage (shredded) - 1/2 cup
Rock Salt - 1 to 1-1/2 tsp (or as needed)
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Red Chillies - 6
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Method:
1. Wash and soak the dhals separately for a minimum of 1 hour in just enough water.
2. Drain the excess water from the soaked dhals. Grind each of the soaked dhals separately to a coarse paste sprinkling little water for easy grinding.
3. Just before grinding the dhals, soak rava in just enough water. After the dhals are ground, drain excess water from rava and give a quick run in the mixie.
4. Grind together red chillies, turmeric powder and salt.
5. Mix together well the coarsely ground dhals, rava, and the ground red chilly paste to a batter. The batter should be of an adai batter consistency. Add water if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.
6. Heat oil in a kadai. Splutter mustard seeds and then add the chopped onions, carrots, and cabbage and fry for 2 minutes.
7. Add the rava-dhal batter and keep mixing until all the moisture is absorbed. Make sure no lumps are formed. When it starts to leave the sides and comes together to form mass, switch off the flame. Allow to cool.
8. Grease your hand with little oil.
9. When the mixture is warm, take small portions and press between the palm and fingers into cylindrical shapes to form pidi kozhukkattais. Repeat the same for the entire mixture.
10. Arrange the kozhukkattais in a plate and steam in a cooker or a vessel (with water in the base of the vessel) for 10 to 15 minutes in medium flame.
11. Serve hot with a desired chutney or pickle of your choice.
This makes a healthy breakfast dish that is steamed and is a well-balanced diet containing carbohydrates, proteins from the dhals, fiber content and vitamins and minerals from the vegetables. It makes a great evening snack too for the kids back from school. The rava dumplings can be made for dinner also when you want a simple, steamed, easily digestible menu just before going to bed.
My Notes:
1. Drumstick leaves can be used instead of the vegetables.
2. A pinch of cooking soda can be added in the batter to get more softer kozhukkatais. I did not use soda.
3. Any vegetables of your choice can be added, viz., green peas, capsicum, beans, etc.
4. I served this dish with a garlic chutney. Onion or tomato onion chutney is also a good accompaniment.
Come April and it is a month of celebration. With the onset of April, I start getting busy with celebrations of Telugu New Year (Ugadi), Vishu, and my daughter's birthday which keeps me on my toes with her wishes to be fulfilled. This year, I decided to make a fresh cream cake which is an all-time favorite for all of us at home unlike the buttercream/fondant ones which are a bit too sweet. The fluffiness of the cream and the just-right sweetness of the cake with the softness of the sponge cake inside always makes it our favorite one. I suddenly remembered that I had canned pineapple tin in my kitchen which I had picked up with all other baking stuff and had not opened it for quite some time. In spite of my husband hesitating on the pineapple flavor of the cake, I went ahead to make this cake, and at the end, he was fancied by its look and taste and competed with our daughter to finish it up.
While I was googling for a good recipe of a pineapple gateau, I found so many good recipes. This cake recipe is adapted from "Cook like Priya" as that was the one which had a fatless sponge cake incorporated in it and the recipe has been adjusted according to my choice of taste and looks. Totally, this cake, though it looks creamy, is a low-fat dessert as I have used a fatless sponge and non-dairy whipping cream.
I used a fatless (i.e. no butter/no oil) sponge cake base to make this cake. Any sponge cake (viz., normal or eggless) base of your choice can be used.
Fatless Sponge Cake
Yield: An 8 inch cake cut into 3 layers
Servings: 10 to 12 generously
Ingredients:
All purpose flour (maida) - 1-1/4 cups (150 gm)
Sugar (granulated/powdered) - 3/4 cup (150 gm)
Eggs (large) - 5
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp (2.5 gm)
Baking Soda - 1 pinch
Salt - 1 pinch
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
2. Grease an 8" baking tin with oil and line the sides with parchment or butter paper about an inch higher than the cake tin and also line the base with the same. Set aside.
3. Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until well incorporated. Set aside.
4. In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and pineapple essences. Beat for about 5 minutes until soft peaks form.
5. Gently add the sifted flour mixture little by little into the beaten egg mixture until well incorporated. Take care not to over mix.
6. Pour the cake batter into the greased cake tin and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C.
7. Remove from oven and allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes. Later, invert the cake onto a cooling rack and let the butter paper remain intact.
8. Once the cake is completely cooled down, remove the butter/parchment paper.
9. Cling wrap the cake and refrigerate until use.
10. When about to use, remove the cling wrap and cut into layers. I sliced into 3 perfect layers and placed them separately on plates.
Pineapple Soaking Syrup
Ingredients:
Pineapple Syrup - 1 cup (the syrup in the the tinned pineapple can)
Powdered Sugar - 4 to 5 tbsp
Pineapple Essence - 2 tsp
Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until assembling process.
Whipped Cream Frosting
Ingredients:
Cold Non-dairy Whipping Cream - 2 cups
Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup
Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp
Method:
1. Freeze the bowl with whisk attachment for at least half an hour before making the whipping cream.
2. Beat the cream at high speed for 2 minutes and then slowly add the essence and the icing sugar. Beat until stiff peaks are formed. Keep refrigerated until use.
Assembling the Cake
1. Take the cake out of the fridge and unwrap the cling film.
2. Place on a cake stand and mark a line with a colored toothpick tip (dipped in a bright food color) from top to bottom or vice versa at any of the points of your choice. This helps in placing back the layers after filling in the same style as the original baked cake so that a uniform level is achieved.
3. Slice 2 or 3 layers of the cake horizontally and place them on different plates aside.
4. On a cake board, apply about 1 tsp of the cream in the center and then place the topmost layer of the cake on it.
5. Drizzle one-third of the prepared pineapple soaking syrup liberally all over this cake layer and let sit for a few minutes until the syrup is fully absorbed.
6. Now, add a big dollop of whipped cream on the soaked cake layer and spread with a spatula all over uniformly. Place chopped pineapple (tinned) chunks all over the spread whipped cream.
7. Place the middle layer of the sliced cake over this and repeat the process of soaking, spreading the whipped cream, and placing the pineapple chunks.
8. Finally, place the bottom most layer of the sliced cake with the bottom side facing upwards. This technique of placing the layers is called upside down technique. Drizzle the soaking syrup all through and allow it to absorb.
9. Then, spread the whipped cream all over the top of the cake and also on the sides and decorate with pineapple (tinned) pieces. I used some store-bought marshmallows also to frost and decorate the fresh cream pineapple pastry (gateau).
10. Refrigerate the pineapple gateau for at least 30 minutes to set.
Once ready, cut, serve, relish, and enjoy!!!
This is a classic cake and just can't be stopped with one bite, so yummilicious it is. The softness of the sponge cake, the lighter cream, and makes it a lip smacking dessert.
My Notes:
1. I used non-dairy whipping cream for this gateau. You can opt to use dairy cream (viz., Amul Whipping Cream). Getting stiff peaks is difficult in indian climatic conditions. So, the cream can be stabilized with gelatin or agar agar powder to get stiff peaks. Dissolve 1 tsp of gelatin/agar agar powder in 2 tsp of water and leave it for 5-10 minutes. Once bloomed, add while whisking the whipping cream to stabilize it.
2. I used the whipped cream itself to frost the cake. Buttercream can also be used to frost the cake.
3. If using fondant toppers, place them on the cake just before use. They tend to run out of colors or become soggy and out of shape because of the cream.
For your reference, I used this non-dairy whipping cream as I felt comfortable working with this whipping cream. Any other brand of non-dairy cream or the dairy version of the whipping cream can be used.
Happy Baking!!!
