Pidi Kozhukattai Recipe | Steamed Broken Grain Dumplings

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Steamed Pidi Kozhukattai garnished with raw nuts.

Pidi Kozhukattai. Amma makes it best! Fragrant, steamed, and light, these dumplings are super easy to prepare. Here’s how!

The traditional recipe uses coconut mixed with the kozhukattai batter and steamed. However, nuts are healthiest raw, so we add them after cooking. Also, we replace some of the coconut with almonds for an even healthier recipe. Equally yummy and tasty as well! Best served with Karuvepilai Thuvaiyal (Curry Leaves Chutney)!

Whole Food Plant Based Pidi Kozhukattai Recipe

Course: Breakfast, Course 3: Grain Dish for Lunch & Dinner Meals, Millet Dishes
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 10 Kozhukattais

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup Millet Rava (proso, kodo, foxtail, little millet or any other millet, even rice)
1 tsp Urad Dal
1 tsp Bengal Gram Dal
1 inch piece Ginger peeled & chopped
1 small Green Chili chopped
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 pinch Asafoetida
5 Curry Leaves
2 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
3 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)
1 tbsp Coconut freshly grated
1 tbsp Almonds, powdered or crushed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Roast the mustard, Urad Dhal and Bengal Gram Dhal separately. Ensure you keep stirring while roasting as you will not have any oil to keep them from charring. Roasting them separately, is also towards this. Ensure to roast them minimally, only until they start sputtering or turn light brown.
2. Pour 1.5 cups of water in a kadai and put in all the roasted lentils and mustard.
3. Add the chopped chilly, ginger, crushed curry leaves, salt and asafoetida.
4. When the water comes to a boil, add the millet rava slowly. Keep stirring the mixture until the mixture becomes thick, like idli batter.
5. Take the mixture off the stove. Let it cool. Make small balls out of it. Steam the balls in an idli steamer.
6. Once done, remove on to a plate and wait until they are completely cool. Garnish with freshly grated coconut and almond powder. Serve Fresh!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Pidi Kozhukattai Recipe

1. Serve with sambar and chutney, moist or watery dishes, to compensate for the dry nature of the kozhukattais.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Pidi Kozhukattai Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why whole grains? Whole grains are healthier than refined grains such as white rice, refined flours, maida, rava, etc., as the bran layer is intact, with all its vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Whole grains have been found to be protective against a whole range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and lifestyle-related cancers.
3. Why cool grains? When cooked grains are allowed to cool on the counter or in the fridge, the starch crystallises to form resistant starch. This can be eaten by our good gut bacteria and also reduces the glycemic index (the rate at which glucose is absorbed), making the whole grain even healthier. For the same reason, parboiled whole grains can be used as well.
4. Why not tadka? Tadka, thaaLippu, oggaraNe. Tempering spices in oil is quintessential to Indian cuisine. This practice may have started as a compromise when whole nuts were unavailable, and indeed, is more common in inland, drier areas where nuts do not grow easily, all year round. You can enjoy the taste and fragrance, though, by just dry roasting the spices you require, without the oil, or even better, mixing spice powders directly into your dish!