Vella Kozhakattai - Jaggery kozhakattai

I love Jaggery kozhakattai. For varalakshmi Nonbu, I had to make these kozhakattais. Here is the recipe I followed to make this.

Ingredients:-

For Poornam (stuffing)

1. Grated coconut - 1 cup
2. Jaggery - 3/4 cup
3. Cardamom powder - a pinch
4. ghee - 2 tsp

For Dough:-

1. Raw rice - 1 cup
2. Salt - a pinch
3. Sesame Oil - 1 tsp

Most of us use rice flour for making the dough. But the traditional way of making this dough is to use rice. Soak rice for an hour. Grind it into a fine paste and add water to bring it to watery consistency (like dosa batter). Add salt and sesame oil. Take a pan, pour this batter and stir it continuously to make sure no lumps are formed. When the water is fully absorbed, it will come like a shiny ball. Turn off the stove, take it out of the heat and cover it with a lid. This is the flour coating we use for making kozhakattai cups. In the mean time, mix the jaggery, cardamom powder to coconut and put it in a hot pan, add ghee and stir it continutously so that all the water in coconut and jaggery is fully absorbed. This should again form like a ball without sticking in the pan. Remove it from the hot stove and let it cool. This is poornam.



When you are ready to make kozhakattai, check the rice dough, if it is slightly dry, then sprinkle a hand full of hot water and knead it so that it becomes softer. Smear a drop of coconut oil, on your hands, so that it becomes easier to make small cups. Make small balls out of the jaggery mixture, keep it inside the flour cups and cover it. Steam cook the kozhakattais for 15 mts. until its fully cooked.