Undrallu/Kudumulu/Modakalu (rice ravva cooked with coconut etc, special for Ganesh puja)

Ganesh Puja is just a few days away! It is time to be prepared to make the special prasadams (offerings) for Ganesha. I feel Ganesha is a very health conscious God!! The prasadams made for this puja are all steam cooked, no deep frying at all!!

Every family has a way of making these undallu/kudumulu/modakalu etc. I am giving the way, my  mother used to make them. Most of the people use chana dal and in our family, we use red chana which after it is sautéed in ghee, gives a nice color and flavor to the final product.

In Telugu "ravva" means cracked, like Bombay ravva for sooji and godhuma ravva for daliya (cracked wheat). Main ingredient for this recipe is rice ravva. It is different from idli ravva. In Andhra, it is available in stores, sold as rice ravva. It can be made at home in the grinder. Wash rice in water and dry it for a few hours. Then coarse grind the rice. Sieve it so that fine powder is removed.

Cooking the ravva is more like cooking cous cous in USA.  More than enough water is boiled in a large container, a few minutes after adding ravva, most of the water is drained off. Then the container is covered and heated on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. The resulting mixture is like small grains of sand. It should not be sticky.

 

 

Ingredients:

•      1 cup rice ravva
•      1/3 cup fresh grated coconut
•      3 Tbsp. sanagalu (red whole chana)
•      1/2 tsp. jeera seeds
•      Salt to taste
•      2 Tsp. ghee
•      Pinch of turmeric

Directions:

1.      Soak chana overnight in enough water, after adding a pinch of turmeric.
2.      Drain water and leave in a colander.
3.      Heat ghee in a pan and add jeera.
4.      After a minute, when jeera seeds start spluttering, add chana.
5.      Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, till chana is cooked.
6.      Boil about 3 cups of water in a thick bottom vessel.
7.      Add rice ravva to the boiling water.
8.      After the mixture starts boiling (first bubbles that come up), drain the water as much as you can.
9.      Keep the covered container back and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
10.      Let it cool and fluff the mixture.
11.      Transfer to a plate, add grated coconut, sautéed chana and salt.
12.      Mix thoroughly and make small balls.
13.      Place the balls in an idli maker or a steamer.
14.      Steam cook the undrallu for about 6 to 7 minutes.
15.      Serve after 10 minutes.
16.      Can be served with chutney or raita.