Pidi kozhukattai or upma kozhukattai is a steamed dumpling made of broken raw rice grains and coconut slivers. Subtly tempered, this very low oil’ tiffin “is a good choice for breakfast, a packed lunch, or a dinner. A great travel food, it pairs well with coconut chutney, coconut thogayal, or “puli’. Variety can be brought into the ingredients, taste, and nutrient profile by the addition of select dals and vegetables.
Taste and nutrition set aside; I am reminded of an upma kozhukattai story narrated by my grandmother when I was little. To think of it now, the story is a silly one but kept us all in rapt attention with hearty laughs in-between when she narrated it. I wonder if I can evoke a similar response from my grandkids.
UPMA KOZHUKATTAI STORY
Here is the story that would keep us sisters in rapt attention with squeals of laughter whenever we used to hear it.
A lady lived with her six daughters in a small village. Her meager earnings as a cook were spent very diligently by her. The girls would look forward to the tasty and simple tiffin that she would prepare for them every day after school.
One day, the mother prepared 6 upma kozhukattai. She kept them covered in a bowl in the kitchen. As the girls came home from school, she asked them to go to the kitchen and take one kozhukattai each. The girls were very happy. The first 4 girls took one kozhukattai each. The 5 th girl was extremely hungry. One kozhukattai was not enough. She wondered what to do. She quickly gobbled up the 6 th kozhukattai and placed a frog in the bowl and covered it. The 6th girl came home from school. She went into the kitchen all ravenous. She opened the bowl to see a frog sitting. she quickly closed the lid and asked her mother ‘Amma does kozhukattai have eyes?’
The mother said loudly ‘you seem to be too hungry, and your brain is not working. so eat up what is there in the bowl’.
The girl again asks ‘Amma does Kozhukattai have a mouth?”. The mother is perplexed as her daughter goes with her questions. She goes to the kitchen and opens the lid of the bowl and out jumps the frog.
Upma Kozhukattai Recipe:
Ingredients for Upma Kozhukattai:
- Rice Rava – 2 cups
- Coconut ¾ cup grated
- Water – 3 cups
- Salt to taste
- Coconut oil/gingelly oil – 2 tbsp
- Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
- Channa Dal/Bengal Gram Dal – 1 tsp
- Urad Dal/Black gram –1 tsp
- Broken red chilies-2
- Asafoetida – ½ tsp
- Green Chillies – 1 or 2, chopped
- Ginger grated 1-inch piece
- Curry Leaves – few
Preparation Method:
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pan, and add oil. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
- Add the dals, fry till golden.
- Add the asafoetida, red chilly and curry leaves and sauté.
- Now add the water, green chilly, coconut and ginger. Add the required amount of salt. Bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat, and gently add the rice rava with constant stirring. Keep stirring till the it forms a uniform mass. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low flame.
- Switch off the flame and allow to cool to medium warm.
- Grease your palm and take small quantities of the cooked rava and shape into ‘pidi’ by pressing your fingers and thumb against the rava mass on your palms.
- Place the elliptical-shaped Kozhukattai on a greased steamer plate and steam for 15 minutes.
- Serve with coconut chutney /coconut thogayal/puli
