Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Uppu Urundai / Steamed Rice Balls with Black Tea flavored with Palm Jaggery

Marriage has not only brought together a loving husband and family for me but has also unleashed the cook in me. From a gal who only knew to make hot water to a gal who now experiments a lot with anything edible to a gal who has created an exclusive food blog, I have come a long way. I would first like to thank my MIL who was patient enough to teach me everything – right from how to mix chapathi dough(yeah I didn’t know how to do that too during the earlier stages) to how to make the most flavorful pressure cooker biryani, she was the one who guided me in the kitchen. I have borrowed many of her recipes for which I have given her full credit in all the posts…

This recipe is hers. The first time when she made this, I didn’t know how just a few balls and a cup of tea would satisfy your dinner hunger… But then when they gave me a plate of 10 balls, I got my answer. I liked the crunchiness of the lentils clubbed with the tempered and mild texture of the dumplings. This together with the hot chai made a successful duo. Want more reason on why I make this often… It is Mr.A’s favorite. What more do I need to make this more often???

Makes – 13-15 balls
Serves – 2

~*What U Need*~

Raw Rice – 1.5 cups
Grated Coconut – ¼ cup

Water – as needed

Salt


For tempering:
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Urad dhal – ½ tbsp

Channa dhal – ½ tbsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Dried Red chillies – 2

Chopped Coriander Leaves – 1 tbsp

Oil – 2 tbsp

For the Black tea
Water – 2 cups

Tea bags – 2 / tea dust – 2 tsp

Palm Jaggery – as preferred

Ginger – a small pinch
Cardamom – 1 pod / Elaichi Powder – a pinch

Special equipments – Steamer

How I made it:
Let’s make the uppu urundai first. While it steams, we can make the tea.
Wash and soak the rice for atleast 2-3 hrs. Drain the water from the rice and in a mixie, add the rice, grated coconut, salt and required amount of water and blend well till u get a dosa batter consistency. Split the red chillies into two. In a non-stick pan, heat oil and add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter. When done add the curry leaves and red chillies and fry well till the chillies have turned black. Add the urad and channa dhal and allow to brown. When done add the coriander leaves and sauté for 5 secs. To this mixture, add the ground batter and keep on stirring. At one point, you will find it difficult to stir the mixture and the mixture will become non-sticky and will leave the sides of the pan.

Turn off the flame and allow it to cool. Meanwhile set up a steamer. When the mixture has cooled, pinch off small amounts from the dough and form round balls. Place this in the steamer and steam for 10 mins or till done.

A skewer inserted will come out clean. Cool the balls.

When the balls are in the steamer we can make the tea. Break the palm jaggery into pieces and heat it with 1 cup of water till the jaggery is completely dissolved. Strain the jaggery water to remove impurities. Crush the ginger to release the juices and cardamom to release the seeds. In the tea pan, add required amount of jaggery water to suit taste + water and heat it. The total amount of this jaggery + water mixture should come up to 2 cups. You can vary both to suit ur taste. Add the tea bags / tea dust, ginger and cardamom / elaichi powder and bring it to boil. When boiled well, pass it through a strainer and serve hot with the steamed balls.

You can save the remaining jaggery water for another use. Just refrigerate and use within 2 days.

Do you guys need a verdict when mentioned that it is a family favorite??? But anyway a small hint... A bite from the tempered balls along with a sip of flavored tea is a yum yum combination. A comfort food which can be done in minutes and enjoyed hot hot !!!




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28 comments:

  1. yum yummmmmmmmmmy uppu urundais which look very tempting.

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  2. That was so quick dear... Thanks a lot...

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  3. my fav one..uppu urundai looks so tempting..with black tea very authentic one...i like that cup :)

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  4. Yummy and tempting...We have this for snack time at our home instead for dinner :-)

    Cheers,
    Uma
    http://umaskitchenexperiments.blogspot.com

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  5. Have heard a lot about it but never had it ~ your pics are truly tempting!
    US Masala

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  6. Looks very tempting....never had this before...

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  7. Urundai looks delicious and Im loving the palm sugar tea a lot. Nice idea and that would definitely make a nice difference to the tea :)

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  8. looks so delicious and tempting..i can have them any time of the day, that cup is so cute..

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  9. Looks good combo with Tea..Have heard of these Urundais but not tried.. Pregnant women are given these more. Dont know the reason as to why..

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  10. மழைக்காலத்தில் உப்பு உருண்டையை சூடா சாப்பிட ரொம்ப பிடிக்கும்.ப்ளாக் டீ ரெசிபியும் பிடிச்சிருக்கு...

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  11. we make this "uppu urndai"..the name is different! Black tea with this is a new combination to me! Looks gud!

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  12. My favorite all the time! love it a lot and can eat somany non stop :))

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  13. I learn so ,any south indian dishes from you. This is one another new such recipe :)

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  14. Lovely looking snack. Looks a wonderful combination with tea.
    Deepa

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  15. Perfect snack for omy.. tea also looks so classy!

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  16. Looks delicious and perfect time tea snack

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  17. surely delectable...the way you've prepared is awesome..
    Tasty Appetite

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  18. Nice Steamed Rice balls !! perfectly done !!

    Ongoing Event - CC-Roti Pachadi/Chutney

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  19. healthy and nice balls. it has been ages since i made this. love the drink too

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  20. wow yummy rice balls,luks so tempting...

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  21. never heard of this recipe...vice idea too....

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  22. This's such a novel idea, never tried this dumpling and that too with a hot cuppa for dinner...! I love how blogging increases my culinary knowledge and introduces me to such lovely dishes from my own country. You are lucky to have one wonderful MIL, god bless!

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