Ammini Kozhukattai / Mani Kozhukattai

I have noticed that Veena bakes a lot and was planning to pick one from that category before I checked her recipe index. However after going through her blog monthly archives, I came across a  treasure trove of traditional recipes and I settled on kozhukattais.  I had never tasted them before and to be honest, even was a little skeptical about how the steamed rice flour balls would taste. However I have come across these kozhukattais plenty of times during browsing and even the blogging marathon and have seen cooks raving about the grease free snack. And so I was tempted to try. I first tried ulundu kozhukattai - the steamed rice flour dumplings with spicy urad dal stuffing. The leftover outer layer and filling went to make these ammini kozhukattai, the mini savory rice flour dumplings. I had made it real spicy and we enjoyed them for our evening snack.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup water or as needed
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp oil 

Ingredients for tempering:
2 tsp oil
1 tsp urad dal / skinned black gram
1 tsp mustard seeds
A sprig of curry leaves
2 - 3 green chilles, finely chopped
1/4 cup ulundu paste / urad dal stuffing (optional. In absence of this use fresh, shredded coconut)
A pinch of asafoetida powder
Salt to taste

Method:
* Add water, oil and salt to a sauce pan. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the stove.
* Take the rice flour in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the water to the flour , mixing with a wooden spatula /spoon all the while.
* Leave it aside for 5 minutes or until it is easy to handle. Knead it into a smooth dough with greased hands.

 

* Pinch out a small portion and roll into a ball. Grease your hands if needed since the dough may be sticky. Repeat the procedure until all the dough is used to make the balls.

* Steam it in a steamer / pressure cooker without the whistle on for about 10 minutes or until done. (I did it for more time than the mentioned 10 minutes since the balls tasted raw.)

* Heat oil and add urad dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves. Fry for a few seconds and then add urad dal stuffing / coconut, kozhukattai and salt. Stir and saute for a couple of minutes and turn off the stove. Serve warm.

The urad dal stuffing I have added above is optional. In absence of it go with fresh, shredded coconut or idli milagai podi. I followed the steaming method here instead of the frying version as I do for my patoli / paruppu usli.

Ingredients for urad dal stuffing:
1/2 cup urad dal
2 green chillies
a sprig of curry leaves
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
Few pinches of asafoetida
1/2 cup grated fresh coconut

Method:
* Soak urad dal at least for an hour in water. Drain the water after soaking period and wash the urad dal once and completely drain.
* Grind urad dal, green chillies, salt and curry leaves together coarsely without adding water. I used a food processor for this.
* Steam this for about 10 - 12 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove and let cool.
* Pulse it in a food processor / blender until the steamed mixture is coarsely crumbled.
* Heat a non stick saute pan and add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Add the coarsely ground dal powder and coconut. Stir and saute for about five minutes. Your ulundu stuffing is ready and use as needed.

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