PAAL KOZHUKATTAI WITH JAGGERY (WITHOUT COCONUT MILK)

Wishing you all a Very Happy And Prosperous New Year 2014 . Hope you all had a great start. Me too had a wonderful time with the whole family. I was supposed to post this yesterday, but since I went out the whole day, I could not. I planned to ask my MIL to make this paal kozhukattai long before and told her and kept, that we will make it for this new year sweet. This is the whole family’s favorite. So it was a perfect treat for all. This is a short cut method for the traditional paal kozhukatai recipe. Now a days, we may not be able to spend much time sitting and rolling tiny rice balls as they do traditionally in earlier days. Those days everybody used to sit and chit chat and roll the balls and make this. But this one is an easier way, but taste wise its no lesser than the traditional way. I was not able to take pictures properly as usual as I was keen noticing what my MIL is doing, but I hope it will be clear enough to understand. Do not underestimate the taste by its looks. Its really delicious!!!

Paal Kozhukattai with jaggery

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Sweets
Prep Time: 3+2 Hours    |  Cook time: 40 mins    |  Serves: 10

Ingredients

Idli rice (parboiled rice)	2 cups
Jaggery	2 & 1/2 cups
Water	5 & 1/2 cups
Cardamom	2, powdered
Cashews (optional)	10
Grated coconut	1/2 cup
Ghee	2 tblsp
Salt	3 generous pinches

Method

1. Soak rice for atleast 3 hours and grind it to a thick batter with salt.

2. Keep refrigerated for 2 hours, this will make the batter more thick, enough to squeeze through murukku press. Keep other ingredients required ready – powder jaggery, elachi and keep cashew nuts ready, grate coconut etc.. Boil the water in ha heavy bottomed pan. I used my pot shaped cooker.

3. Once the water is rolling boiling, squeeze the batter. Just do two rounds (cirlces) and stop. Wait for 30 sec, the squeezed dough will get cooked and raise. Break it roughly with a ladle into pieces.Repeat the process until you finish the batter. Every time, make sure the water boils while you squeeze the batter and do it in small batches, otherwise the dough will get dissolved in the water.

4. Once all the dough is done, by this time, the whole thing will get bit thick and look milky. Let it get cooked properly. Break the long strips if any into smaller pieces.

5. Add jaggery and let it come to boil. Make sure you stir properly, otherwise there are chances of getting burnt at the bottom. Add scrapped coconut. Mix well.

6. Let it become thick, so keep stirring for 5-6 minutes in medium flame. Keep two plates ready greased. Fry cashew nuts broken into pieces in ghee and mix in.

7. Pour into the greased plates and let it cool down. DO not cover completely with lid, just close it half to let the steam escape.Once cooled down completely use a greased sharp spatula or knife to cut into squares. This makes serving easy.

Notes

• Idli rice works best for this method.
• Adding coconut ensure the paal kozhukattai become thick faster.
• Make sure to break the strips to pieces every time.
• At no point you should squeeze the batter into water that’s not boiling. Give time for each batch to ensure even cooking.
• Color of the Kozhukattai varies as I took pictures in different light settings.

You can keep this refrigerated and serve for 2 days. Best way to make it for more people and a real treat as well. Please take one for yourself, a virtual treat .

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