Broken wheat Pidi Kozhukattai
Broken Wheat Pidi Kozhukattai is a healthy steamed snack. It is a traditional South Indian dish, balanced and filling, suited for all ages. Because it is a steamed dish, it is light on the stomach and suited for any meal of the day. My grandmom and mom used to make it with broken rice. I’ve just tried to give a variation to the same recipe by using broken wheat instead of rice. Both rice and wheat taste equally good for this recipe, so choose according to your preference.
‘Pidi’ in Tamil basically refers to the quantity you can hold in one fist. In this recipe, the broken wheat along with the lentils is cooked 75% in a pan and then divided into smaller portions (one fistful per portion). Then it is shaped into oblong shaped balls and steam cooked. This is a very simple dish to make, tastes very nice on its own and needs no accompaniment. Still, you can go ahead and pair this traditional snack with a chutney, or sambar or pickle and enjoy.
Ingredients
Broken wheat/Wheat rava – 1 cup
Chana dhal – 1/4 cup
Toor dhal – 1/4 cup
Fresh grated coconut – 1 cup
Curry leaves (finely chopped) – a few leaves
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 2 tbsp
Dry red chillies – 2 (or to taste)
Green chillies – 2 (or to taste)
Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dhal – 1 tbsp
Asafoetida – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Water – 4 cups
Yield
30-35 fist sized kozhukattais
Prep time
2 1/2 hours
Cook time
40 mins
Method
1) Wash the dhals and soak together for 2 hours.
2) After 2 hours, drain the water from the dhals, add red and green chillies and grind coarsely in a mixer/grinder. Add grated coconut to this and 1 cup water and mix. Set aside.
3) In a wide pan/kadai heat coconut oil. Once it is heated a bit, add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Then add urad dhal and fry until it becomes golden. Now add asafoetida, finely chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves. Fry for 30 secs.
4) Then add 3 cups of water (if using rice or millet, see note 7) and salt. Let it start boiling. Now reduce the heat completely, add the ground dhal mixture to this boiling water and mix continuously. After 2 mins, add the broken wheat. Mix and keep stirring until it starts to thicken and becomes one mass. It should take nearly 10 mins on low heat. The dhal and broken wheat will be 75% cooked by the time it thickens and comes together.
5) Now remove the pan from heat and transfer the cooked mixture to a plate. Allow it to come to room temperature.
6) When the broken wheat pidi kozhukattai mixture is cooled completely, grease your palm with little bit of coconut oil, take small fist sized portions and mould into oblong shaped balls.
7) Arrange the broken wheat pidi kozhukattais in a steamer and steam for 6 to 7 mins in medium heat. After 7 mins, remove from heat and allow it to cool a bit. Serve warm with chutney of your choice/any kuzhambu/sambar/pickle/jaggery. It tastes great without any accompaniment too!
Notes
- If you are planning to make this dish for breakfast, then you can make it until point 6 in the method and refrigerate the previous day itself. Whenever you decide to serve this broken wheat pidi kozhukattai, take it out from the refrigerator and directly steam and serve. Just steam couple of mins more when making like this.
- I’ve used fresh green and dry red chillies in this recipe. You can make with either one of the chillies also.
- The dhals should be ground coarsely so it doesn’t clump together when boiling. Also, keep stirring the dhal mixture continuously after it is added to the boiling water to avoid lumps. Keep the heat in minimum always.
- Adding fresh coconut is important and has three advantages – gives softness to the kozhukattais, adds mild sweetness and increases nutrition.
- I like the taste and aroma of coconut oil in this dish. You can choose any cooking oil according to your preference.
- I prefer to shape the broken wheat pidi kozhukattais into oblong shaped balls instead of round ones. This shape helps the kozhukattais cook evenly while steaming, cooks faster than round ones and lastly, you can arrange more number of kozhukattais in the steamer.
- I’ve made this with broken wheat. Instead of broken wheat, the same pidi kozhukkattai can be made with broken rice or any millet variety (the same proportion will work fine). For people who look for gluten free dishes, using rice or millets in this recipe is a great option. If you are using rice or millet, reduce the water to cook them from 3 cups to 2 cups.
Beginners tips
- If you don’t have a steamer, you can use your pressure cooker to steam the kozhukattais. If you don’t have a pressure cooker then you can use a normal pan with lid to steam this dish. Just take a slightly wide, flat bottomed pan. Add water about two knuckles deep. Keep a smaller bowl with water or a steaming ring in the water. Now arrange the kozhukattais in a normal plate or a slotted plate and keep it on top of the bowl or the steaming ring. Cover the pan with a tight lid. Heat the pan until medium hot. The steam which builds up inside the closed pan will help cook the kozhukattais perfectly. This should take around 6 to 7 mins.
