Vegan Sukrunde Recipe

Sukkina Unde is a traditional dumpling recipe from Karnataka that is specially prepared when relatives invite pregnant women home for a meal.

Sukrunde! Baby showers? Planning to gift a box of sweets to someone you know who is pregnant? This green gram stuffed dumpling is the perfect sweet to prepare. Sukrunde or Sukkina Unde is a traditional dumpling recipe from Karnataka that is specially prepared when relatives invite pregnant women home for a meal.

Every region of Karnataka has its own unique recipe for Sukrunde, but the components remain the same – a cereal, a pulse and a nut with a sweetener. The stuffing can be bengal gram, toor dal, green gram, rice, or sesame seeds. In most homes, this unde is either deep fried in coconut oil or steamed.

In our Whole Food Plant Based Sukrunde recipe, we have used unpolished rice along with green gram and date syrup. There are two variations – an easy, one-step recipe and another layered recipe, both served with nuts!

Recipe by Prathima Prashanth, Health Coach & Plant-based Cooking Expert, NutritionScience.in

Whole Food Plant Based Sukrunde Recipe / Green Gram Stuffed Dumpling

Course: Dessert in Course 3 (Grain Dishes) at Lunch & Dinner Meals, Festival Dishes, Snack, Sweets
Cuisine: Recipe for Pregnant Women from Udupi, Mangalore, and Puttur in Coastal Karnataka in South India
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 5 people

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Green Gram / Whole Moong
2 cups Unpolished Red Rice
2 cups Date Syrup
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
Water as required
1 tbsp Almonds, powdered

Instructions

Easy Sukrunde Recipe

1. Dry roast 1 cup green gram and 1 cup unpolished rice separately. Stop roasting rice before it starts popping! Ensure that both do not get too brown. See Nutrition Science Highlights below to learn why.
2. Spread on a plate and let them cool. Once cool, powder both roasted green gram and rice. They should not be too fine or too coarse.
3. Mix date syrup with powdered green gram and rice mixture and make ladoos.
4. You can choose to stop here, mix with powdered almonds and serve. If you wish to add extra charm to the Sukrunde, See 'Expert Sukrunde Recipe' below.

Expert Sukrunde Recipe

1. Make sukrunde laddoos as explained above.
2. Soak 1 cup unpolished, red rice overnight and blend into a thick batter with 1/2 cup water.
3. Dip ladoos into rice batter and steam for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Once cooked, let them cool fully.
5. Once cool, top with powdered almonds and serve fresh! Enjoy!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Sukrunde Recipe

1. Red rice & moong dal powder from step 2 can be stored and used to make instant sukrunde anytime.
2. You can make a stuffing of cooked green gram / bengal gram / toor dal and date syrup as well.
3. Add sesame for a nutty flavour.
4. Instead of steaming, the ladoos can be cooked in boiling water as well, like pasta integrale recipe.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Sukrunde Recipe

1. Why not honey, sugar or jaggery? Sugar and Jaggery are processed foods. Although jaggery is healthier than brown sugar, which, in turn, is healthier than white sugar, all forms of processed foods are unhealthy when compared to whole plant foods. Honey is healthwise as good as jaggery, which isn't saying much. In addition to not being very healthy, honey production kills millions of bees every year, affecting our environment adversely. The best sweetener alternative is a whole fruit or dry fruit. The easiest method of using these is date syrup, as it does not involve peeling or chopping.
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. What's wrong with roasting? The brown color we get on roasting whole grains, tubers, legumes, or nuts is due to the formation of carcinogenic AGE compounds. We can reduce the formation of these compounds by roasting on a low flame, adding spices and herbs, and removing browned portions of rotis / flatbread before serving and enjoying them.
5. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined. In addition, they provide the oil content we need to absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients from other whole plant foods! This may be why nuts are used to garnish nearly every traditional Indian dish!