Nutritious Pidikozhakattai with Jeera Rasam

     The Karnataka version of this is called Nucchinunde. Telugu - Kanduntlu. A traditional South Indian recipe, it is being made less often because it is a little labour intensive. However, with some planning and pre-preparation, this can even make it's way into week-day lunch boxes. It adds valuable protein and fibre to a meal. I've included a snapshot of the magazine article to give a sense of what the finished product looks like.

INGREDIENTS FOR PIDIKOZHAKATTAI:

Whole channa - ½ cup

Green gram – ½ cup

Karamani – ¼ cup

Tuar dal – ½ cup

Whole Urad – 2 tbsp

Cabbage (finely shredded) – ¼ cup

Carrot (grated) – ¼ cup

Onions (finely chopped) – ¼ cup

Curry leaves – finely chopped

Ginger- 1 inch piece

Red chillies – as required (6 for spice)

Salt – to taste

METHOD:

1] Soak all pulses together for 4 hours and then drain excess water completely.

2] Mix in the ginger, red chillies, salt and coarsely grind to a rough, chunky texture. Add in the vegetables and curry leaves and mix by hand. Form oblong rolls with tapered edges roughly 2.5 inches in length and 1.5 inches in thickness. Size them according to your convenience.

3] Place these rolls in idli plates and steam for 15 – 20 mins. Dip a knife into the centre of the roll, if it comes out clean, it’s cooked.

4] Serve hot with Jeera rasam.

Makes:                 18 – 20 nos.                        Cooking Time: 20 mins

INGREDIENTS FOR JEERA RASAM

Rasam powder – 1 tbsp

Tamarind – 1 small lemon sized ball

Small tomatoes (finely chopped) – 2 nos

Salt - to taste

Coriander leaves – for garnishing

Seasoning – Oil / Ghee – 1 tsp, mustard seeds and jeera

FOR THE RASAM POWDER –

Coriander seeds (dhaniya) - 1 tbsp

Pepper corns – 1 tbsp

Jeera -1 tbsp

Tuar dal – 1 tbsp

Red chillies – 3

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Asafoetida – a pinch

Curry Leaves – 2 twigs

METHOD

1] Roast all the rasam powder ingredients together (including curry leaves and roast till dry and slightly aromatic). Grind to a fine powder.

2] Soak the cleaned tamarind in 1 cup (200ml) of water and heat till warm. Set aside. When cool, extract every last bit of juice from the tamarind pulp. Throw the dregs.

3] Heat 2 cups of water in a pan and add the finely chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then add the tamarind water and rasam powder, add 1 more cup of water and boil for 5 more mins. Add salt and wait for a light that foam accumulates on the surface. The flame should be turned off at this point.

4] Heat the oil / ghee in a small pan, add in the mustard and once it splutters, add the rest of the ingredients.

5] Add this seasoning and coriander leaves garnish and serve piping hot with the nutritious pidikozhakattais.

Cooking Time:  15 – 20mins

Nutrition Tips:

• If this is your meal’s main dish, each person will probably need 5 rolls with rasam, prepare another vegetable dish and you can serve everything with red or brown rice. Powder in the pidikozhakattai with the rice, add rasam and enjoy!
• Sprout all the pulses required to add to the nutrient value (however this will go 'off' more quickly so consume it all fresh).
• Experiment with different pulses (tuar and channa are a must) and add different herbs and spices to suit your family’s taste buds.

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    This recipe combo was published in Parent Circle, August, 2012.