Pidi Kozhukattai - Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipe

My mom used to make this pidi kozhukattai often. It is very easy to prepare and is very healthy too. She used to prepare using both jaggery-coconut and sugar-coconut combination. Have given the recipe for both.

For Jaggery-Coconut kozhukattai
 
Ingredients

Kozhukattai flour/rice flour -1/2 cup
Jaggery-1/4 cup or little more than that (adjust as per your sweet preference)
Grated coconut -1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Salt - a pinch (to enhance the sweetness)
Ghee/clarified butter -1 tsp

Method

Sift the flour twice and transfer to a wide bowl. Add the grated coconut, cardamom powder, salt and ghee and give a nice mix. Set aside.

In a pan, dissolve jaggery in 1/4 cup  of water over low heat. (The quantity of water will differ according to the quality of rice flour. It will vary from 1:1.5 ratio). Filter it to remove impurities.

Add this jaggery syrup to the rice flour mixture mixing well with a spoon or spatula constantly.  Allow to cool down a bit if it is too hot. When it is still warm, knead to a smooth dough. Divide into equal balls of small size and then make oval shapes out of the mixture. Keep it on your palm and press it to get the desired shape. Grease your fingers with ghee if you want a very smooth appearance. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough. Steam cook for 10-15 minutes or until done.

Sugar-Coconut Kozhukattai version

Ingredients

Kozhukattai flour/rice flour -1/2 cup
Sugar -1/4 cup (adjust as per your sweet preference)
Grated coconut -1/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup or a little more than that
Salt - a pinch (to enhance the sweetness)

Method

Sift the flour twice and transfer it to a bowl. Add sugar, grated coconut and salt and mix well. Set aside.

In a vessel boil the water, turn off the flame and pour this boiling water to the rice flour mixture. Simultaneously mix with a spoon or spatula. Allow to cool down a bit if it is too hot. 

When it is still warm, knead to a smooth dough. Divide into equal balls of small size and then make oval shapes out of the mixture. Keep it on your palm and press it to get the desired shape. Grease your fingers with ghee if you want a very smooth appearance. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough. Steam cook for 10-15 minutes or until done.

 Note
* After the dough is ready keep covered to avoid drying. Also cover the shaped kozhukattais too.
* After steaming, if you feel the kozhukattai is not cooked fully inside. Steam for few more minutes. It may need a minimum of 10 minutes for the kozhukattais to be fully cooked.

Kozhukattai Recipe - Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipe - Vella Kozhukattai (Sweet Kozhukattai)

Kozhukattai is a delicious sweet prepared and offered for Lord Ganesha on the Ganesh Chathurthi day. We can make many different varieties of kozhukattai like pidi kozhukattai, poorna kozhukattai etc. All these years I have only prepared pidi kozhukattai and poorna kozhukattai with just coconut and sugar stuffing. That is how my mom used to make it. But traditionally jaggery and coconut filling will be used. This year I opted for the traditional method. I made couple of attempts and got them perfect. Hence sharing the recipe here.

Ingredients

For the outer covering

Idiyappam/kozhukattai flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup or little more than that
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Jaggery-Coconut filling

Shredded coconut - 1 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup (add more or less as per your sweet preference)
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method

Let's prepare the filling first:
Add coconut and jaggery in a skillet. In low heat, saute until the jaggery melts and the mixture thickens. Add the cardamom to the mix and toss well.

Do not cook until string consistency, else the stuffing will become hard. If it does not thicken well, add a little rice flour and cook further for few seconds until it thickens. Allow to cool down a bit, when it is still warm, take a small piece of this filling (if it is sticky, grease your palms with ghee) and make a small ball. Do the same for the remaining filling.

Prepare dough for the outer cover
Sift the flour twice and take it in a wide bowl. Add salt and a tsp of oil and mix well. Add the water in a sauce pan and bring it to boil. Switch off the flame and add this boiling water to the rice flour. Using a spoon mix well. The dough should come together as for chapathi dough except that this will be sticky.

If you find the dough dry, add drops of hot water until it comes together. If the dough is too sticky or if you feel you have added more water, sprinkle more flour and try kneading. It is always preferable to go with less water and then add if needed more.

Now make the kozhukattais

Allow to sit for few minutes if it is too hot to handle. Have a bowl of oil and warm water near by for shaping the outer cover.

When the dough is still warm, take gooseberry sized ball out of the dough and using oil and water make small cup and add pooranam or filling in the middle. Very slowly brings the ends together over the top of the filling, until you seal the edges. Pinch off the excess dough.

Repeat the same process with the rest of the dough and steam cook for 10-15 minutes. You know if they are done by looking at its color. It will be shiny and changed in color.  Do not overcook, else the kozhukattais will turn rubbery/broken.