Steamed Delight
When I saw that the ingredient was rice for the contest, I remembered one of my childhood favorites (Ila Ada and Kozhukatta). Both have the same dough and the same filling, but that they are in different shapes. Ila ada is made by spreading the dough thinly onto banana leaves and has a sweet filling in the center, while kozhukkatta is just the rice dough shaped like a ball with the same sweet filling stuffed in the center. Both are steamed, hence making both very healthy and light.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 cup Roasted rice flour
- 1-1.5 cups Water
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ghee (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom
- 1/2 tsp Jeera (optional)
- 1.5 cups Grated coconut
- 1 cup Grated jaggery (can also use sugar instead of jaggery)
- 8 5"x5" Banana leaves (can also substitute with aluminium foil if you don't have banana leaves)
- Pressure cooker or steamer
Instructions
Method
- Mix together the grated coconut, grated jaggery, cardamom powder, and jeera. Keep aside.
- Boil the water and add salt and ghee(optional).
- Add the rice flour and mix well without forming lumps. The mixture should not be too loose...It shoud be able to hold shape in the form of a ball.
- Divide the mixture into 8 balls and keep aside.
For Ila Ada:
- Place each ball in the center of each banana leaf and flatten it out with your fingers to spread as thin as possible. You can wet your finger tips with water to help in spreading. Place the sweet filling in the center and fold the banana leaf over and press the ends along the edges.
- Now steam them in pressure cooker or steamer - might take 10 to 12 minutess to cook.
- Enjoy warm.
For Kozhakatta:
- Place each ball in the center of your palm and press with the other hand to flatten it. Now fill the flattened dough with the sweet filling of jaggery and mould the dough back into shape by bringing the ends together.
- Now steam them in pressure cooker or steamer - will take around 15 minutes to cook.
- Enjoy warm.