Sweet dumplings, a favorite of Lord Ganesha, special offering on Ganesh Chathurthi.
Ingredients:
Rice Flour - 1-1/2 cups
Water - 1 -1/2 cups
For Filling:
Jaggery – 3/4 cup
Water – 1/2 cup
Coconut (grated) – 1 cup
Cardamom – 1 teaspoon
Sesame oil/ghee – 1 teaspoon
Preparation Time: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 15 min.
Method:
Dissolve the jaggery in water and let the jaggery melt. Strain this solution to remove impurities. Heat this in a thick bottom pan until the jaggery syrup becomes frothy and thick. Add the coconut. Mix well until the mixture turns thick. Turn off and add cardamom powder.
To make the rice dough, boil water. Add the boiling water part by part into the rice flour and mix well with a ladle until you get a soft yet firm dough. Ensure that there are no lumps in the dough. Smear sesame oil or ghee on your hands. Take some rice dough (medium lemon sized) into your palm. Make a small ball of the dough and flatten them into small cups using your thumbs.
Take a spoon of the coconut jaggery filling and place it in the middle of the flattened dough.
Cover the sides while ensuring the filling is safely cocooned with the soft rice dough covering the filling from all sides.
Repeat to make more.
Place the dumplings in the steamer and steam for 10-15 mins. Take out and serve.
Health Benefits/Alerts:
This is a delicious and healthy dessert as it is steamed and oil usage is minimal.
Trivia:
The filling by itself is delicious and hard to resist. Modakam moulds are available in the market these days. Those of you who have trouble making the rice cups can try out the modakam mould.
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yummmmmm..this si one sweet i can make..well!
thank you manju for the very easy and well laid out recipe and simple instructions accompanied by the pictorial steps.
Do you happen to have a recipe for Otta-appam offering (which they serve at Indanore Ganapathi temple in Malappuram dist. not sure if you are familiar with this or not).
Thanks for the encouragement Rita. Hope you tried it and you liked it. I am not familiar with Otta-appam. There is an ottayappam vazhipaadu at the temple near my house (again i think it is for the Ganapathy Upadeva) and its simply fabulous. From what it tastes, i feel it is just a combination of finely ground raw rice, jaggery, and elaichi powder cooked in an iron tawa with ghee. You could try that out. But believe me the ambalam taste is impossible to reproduce whether it is payasam or appam!!