Upma kozhakattai is a standard dish at home and I love it. Served hot with gothsu it is a comfort food of sorts. My husband does not like this dish and so I usually make it when he travels (which is often enough :p). Rice and tuvar dal coarsely ground with spices, shaped into dumplings and steamed, this is a healthy dish which doesn’t use too much oil and is a refreshing alternate to the idli or upma and funnily enough is a combination of the two, preparation wise.
Ingredients:
Raw rice: 1 cup
Tuvar dal/tuvaram parrupu/toor dal : 1/4th cup
Whole black pepper:1-2 tsp
Whole cumin : 1-2 tsp
To temper:
Coconut oil 1 tbsp
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Red chillies pinched to smaller pieces – 3-4
Fenugreek/vendhayam/methi seeds – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds
Salt to taste
2-3 cups water
Method:
- Coarsely grind the rice,parrupu,pepper and cumin and set aside
- In a pan, add the tempering ingredients and once they pop add water and bring it to a rolling boil
- While continuously stirring the water add the ground rice mixture and keep mixing till well combined with no lumps
- Cook this mixture as you would cook upma (until all the water has evaporated and the rice is almost fully cooked)
- Shape into oval shaped dumplings and steam (in an idli steamer) for 15-17 mins
- Serve hot with chutney,gothsu or curd and pickle