Kozhukattai is the authentic sweets widely seen festivals of Tamil Nadu. They are very special and most obvious neivedyam that is offered to God Karthikeya (Murugan) on Karthigai deepam festival and also to God Ganesha on Ganesh Chaturthi.
the most prestigious festivals of Tamil Nadu , South India are Deepavali, Tiru Karthigai deepam, Ganesh Chaturthi, Saraswati poojai, Sri Vara Mahalakshmi poojai, Tamil New Year and Pongal.
Out of which half of the festival consists of the offering kozhukattai.
Until i found this recipe, all festivals that included kozhukattai were a nightmare for me. I love kozhukattai too and if it was not these occasions then i wouldn’t have learnt to make traditional neivedhyam at all.
Karthigai deepam is one of the most highly celebrated Tamil festival. alongside Varalakshmi vratam ana fewew more. We tamilians make kozhukattai, arisi paruppu payasam, medhu vada, paruppu vada, paal kozhukattai, uppu kozhukattai, kuli paniyaram (appam), sweet nel pori being the most important dish of the occasion.
click on this link: Find out how to celebrate karthigai deepam in simple and efficient ways that is not time consuming yet satisfactory.
Method:
For Dough:-
- Soak one part of raw rice for around 4-5 hours. Once they are completely soaked make a fine paste of it by adding half parts of water. add salt while blending or adjust according to your taste. The salt in the batter is just for balancing the sweet mixture we will be filling inside. As such it need not be strong.
- So here we have to note that the ratio for rice to water is 1:0.5 (one part rice to half part water). Consistency level matters a lot so make sure the batter is prepared well.
- Now transfer the mixture to a chatty on medium low flame, keep stirring until they become thick.
- Transfer to a wide mixing bowl and keep kneading until they form to a very soft clay like texture. place them in an airtight container aside.
For sweet filling mixture:-
- In a pan add desi ghee, more the ghee – better the taste. Firstly, roast the dry fruits of your choice, remove and set aside.
- Add fresh grated coconut. roast for 1 minute in slow flame.
- You can slowly start adding jaggery powder and keep turning.
- Once they start to bubble immediately, turn off the gas. if you keep turning for a long time the mixture will become hard.
- Change to a bowl as soon as you turn off the gas in order to prevent further cooking.
For making Kozhukatai :
- Take a handful sized dough, keep covering the dough to prevent it from drying. make a bowl kind of shape, fill the mixture inside.
- The filling need not be overflowing otherwise while steaming the kozhukatai will crack open.
- Seal the dough from all sides. you can brush little ghee on top of kozhukatai (optional)
- By preparing the dough in this way it is very rare that the dough leaves cracks. this is the best method to make kozhukatai dough.
- You can store the mixture in refrigerator for next two days in airtight container. Dough needs to be prepared fresh because storing it will lead to dryness and kozhukatai is not going to taste better at all.
Steps with supporting picture:
- Rice flour paste turns into this texture once you mix it well.
2. keep kneading until the dough is soft and firm. add ghee or oil while doing so.
3. Sweet mixture ready for filling. No water or moisture to be seen otherwise the dough will be difficult to seal.
4. Roll a small size ball.
5. Make a bowl shape and fill the mixture. Not to full or overflowing to avoid leakage or cracking while steaming.
6. Seal and steam for 7 – 10 minutes on slow flame. make into modak shape or kozhukatai shape.