Upma Kozhukattai with Sambar

When I told K I was making upma kozhukattai for dinner he was confused. Kozhukattai, to him, means the sweet South Indian dish that is filled with coconut and jaggery. Upma is a dish made with rawa and is usually had for breakfast. Upma kozhukattai is steamed rice flour balls and can be served with chutney or sambar. Traditionally, raw rice is soaked, dried and powdered and used for making these kozhukattais. But there is an easier method for making this dish for lazy people like me. I got this recipe from my mom who makes it for breakfast once in a way.

Upma Kozhukattai

 
2 cups idli rawa
1 tbsp bengal gram dal
1 tbsp toovar dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 green chili
 Pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves

Soak bengal gram dal and toovar dal in water for 1/2 hour. Drain water, add green chili and grind coarsely. Keep aside. Heat oil in a large kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add asafoetida and curry leaves. To this, add 2 1/2 cups water (you might need to add more water) and salt and bring it to a boil. Keep the flame on sim, and add the ground mixture and the idli rawa slowly, constantly stirring. Keep stirring till all water is absorbed and the resulting mixture does not stick to your fingers, about 5 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Take big handfuls and shape it into ovals. You will get about 16 kozhukattais. Steam for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

For the sambar

I made mixed vegetable sambar to go with the kozhukattai. I am not giving the recipe here but just wanted to share couple of tips with you. When pressure cooking the dal, cut a  tomato into half and add to the dal. Later, peel the skin, mash the tomato and add to the sambar. The sambar comes out thicker this way. Also, add small piece of jaggery to the sambar when adding tamarind.