Mor Kali

A few years ago when my SIL visited us, we both tried a dish that she had eaten in someone's home at Chennai. She mentioned that it was rice flour upma cooked in buttermilk instead of water. The idea of using rice flour for a upma sounded intriguing at that time and I wanted to see what texture we end up with. I had used a traditional style kadai and by the time the dish was done, I will admit I was fed up with the tedious stirring. And to top that, my husband commented that why did we guys take such pain to create 'vadiyala pindi'. (Vadiyalu is Telugu word for sun dried papads / vadagam / sandige. Vadiyala pindi is papad batter when loosely translated.) I guess there is no need to mention that I had dropped the idea of posting it on the blog.

I got to see the versions of mor kali on Tamilian blogs later many times and realized that it's what my SIL and I tried to cook on that day. Mor kali is a traditional recipe from Tamilian kitchens that is prepared using rice flour and buttermilk. It can be slightly gooey when done or can be cooked until crumbly. Using sun dried, salted chillies add a flavorful kick to this slightly tangy dish. This can be eaten as a light snack or as a meal.
Most of the recipes I had gone through online mention to stop cooking once the mixture leaves the sides of the pan or the mixture is not sticky to wet hands. This tip didn't help me as I was using a non stick pan and it started to leave the sides of the pan in less than ten minutes and it was no where close to the final stage of cooking. Going by my first experience, I did not care whether my mor kali was going to look snow white or soft textured. This time my criteria was to cook it enough that it didn't stick to my mouth and taste good. I cooked until it passed my taste testing and was satisfied with this second attempt.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
3 cups thick butter milk (slightly sour one is preferred.)
(or use 1.5 cup butter milk + 1 cup water)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil (I used sesame oil.)
1 tsp chana dal / split chick peas
1 tsp urad dal / split, skinned black gram
1 tsp mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida 
Few curry leaves
3 - 4 sun-dried salted chillies / 5 - 6 red chillies

Method:
* Combine rice flour, butter milk, water and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk it to form a lump-free batter.
 
* Heat oil in a pan, preferably a non stick one. Add chana dal, urad dal, and mustard seeds. When the dals start to turn reddish, add the chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Saute them until the chillies are toasted and turn brownish. Next add the rice flour batter to the pan.
 
* Cook the mixture on medium flame until it is done. Stir continuously through out the process to avoid the mixture from forming lumps.
* This was after 10 minutes of cooking. I cooked for about 25 minutes on medium flame.

* You can serve as it is. Or grease a plate with some oil / ghee and transfer the cooked mixture to it. Flatten it with the back of a spatula and cut into desired shapes and serve.

This 'Mor Kali - Mor Milagai' combo goes to BM #46. Check what other marathoners are cooking during this marathon.

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