Avalakki unde/Avalakki pundi gatti/Steamed flattened rice balls

I cook three times a day & I try not to keep the left overs from the previous meal. Even after making so many varieties of food, sometimes my family exclaim"not again" & I find it a challenging task to plan my daily menu. I keep looking for interesting alternatives every day & during one such days, the avalakki pundi gatti came to my rescue.

Quick language translation:
Avalakki (Kannada)/Poha (Hindi)/ Aval (Tamil & Malayalam)/Pohe (Marathi)/Flattened rice (English)


Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 50 mins


Ingredients: ( Got around 28 lime sized balls with this measurement)
Coarsely grounded flattened rice: 2 cups or 2.5 cups of thick flattened rice (Refer notes below # 1).
Water: 4 cups
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 2 tsp
Channa dal: 1 tbsp
Curry leaves: 6-8 nos
Salt: As needed


Special utensils needed:
A steamer or a pressure cooker without the whistle.

Method:

• Coarsely powder the flattened rice.
• Boil water in a sauce pan.
• Meantime, add the oil to a broad vessel. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds followed by urad & chana dal. When dal turns golden brown, add curry leaves. When curry leaves wilt, add the boiling water to it. Add the salt. Reduce the heat to medium low.
• Add the coarsely powdered flattened rice to the boiling water & start mixing thoroughly until the flattened rice is completely cooked. It will form a single mass & starts leaving the edges & the bottom of the vessel. (Refer notes below # 2). Mine took around 5-7 mins.

• Add sufficient water to the steamer & keep the steamer on medium-high heat.
• Grease the plate on which these balls will be placed.
• Keep cold water next to you & start making balls using the hot dough ready. Dip your hands in cold water, take lime sized dough & form either a fist or a ball with that dough. Keep the ball on the greased plate & repeat the procedure for the remaining dough. 
• Place the plate/thali in the steamer & reduced the heat to medium. Cook for 30-40 mins.
• Let them cool for a couple of minutes & then serve them with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

1. For 2.5 cups of flattened rice, I got 2 cups of the coarsely grounded flattened rice. The idea is to use 1:2. For every 1 cup of coarsely grounded flattened rice, use 2 cups of water. 
2. Gently wet your fingers & touch the hot dough. If the dough isn't sticky, then you are done.
3. If you do not have a steamer, use a pressure cooker like I did !

Huli or Gojju avalakki (Beaten Rice in Tamarind Sauce)

One more beaten rice recipe that can be prepared & consumed on Ekadashi (11th day of new moon or full moon). On this day, our holy books advise us to observe fast. Scientifically also, it is good to fast once in 15 days as it helps to detoxify & cleanse our body. So, as part of this year’s resolution, I thought of observing fast on Ekadashi. Beaten rice, saabudana could be consumed on such days, that is why I normally prepare huli avalakki, avalakki bhath, avalakki oggarane, mosaru avalakki on such days.

Needless to mention, yesterday was ekadashi & it was huli avalakki or gojju avalakki at our home. For me gojju avalakki is literally, mix gojju with avalakki & it is ready. My granny & my mom prepare awesome gojju (puliyogere mixture). I just use the same thing for preparing this dish. For people who don’t get that puliyogere mix, they could buy MTR or for that matter any puliyogere mix & prepare.

Language Translations:
Kannada : Avalakki
English : Beaten Rice
Hindi : poha
Tamil/Malayalam : aval
Telugu: atukulu
Tulu : Bajil


(PS: In the above taken picture, I have skipped making the beaten rice a course rawa part as my blender was out of order & prepared without breaking the beaten rice)

Ingredients:
2 cups beaten rice
1 tsp seesame seeds
1 tbsp puliyogere gojju or 1.5 tbsp puliyogere pudi
1 cup water
3 tbsp grated dry coconut/copra/kobbari
Salt according to taste.

For tempering:
1 tbsp oil
8-10 cashewnuts (optional)
1 tbsp groundnuts
1 tsp urad dal/black gram dal
½ tsp mustard seeds
6-8 curry leaves
1-2 broken red chilli
Generous pinch of hing

Method:

• Wash the beaten rice 2-3 times thoroughly in water. Drain the water immediately & spread it on a broad plate (Water should be removed as much as possible, else it would become soggy).
• Once the beaten rice becomes completely dry, make a very coarse ( big rawa like mixture) of the same (each grain should just be broken into 2-3 pieces) The broken poha should look like cracked wheat.
• Add salt, puliyogere mixture, 1.5 cups of water to a bowl & mix it well.
• Sprinkle this water over the broken beaten rice. Mix it well. Repeat the procedure until the beaten rice is 80% moist. Let it soak for 5-10mins (ensure that the whole mixture donot become soggy). Add 1-2 tsps of the mixed water (if required)
• Meantime, dry roast the seesame seeds & make a coarse powder of it. This could be also added as is (so choice of adding the seesame powder or seesame as is, is individual’s choice)
• Prepare the tempering. Heat oil in a pan, when oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add urad dal & fry till it turns golden brown. Add peanuts, cashewnuts & fry till they are golden brown. Add broken red chilli, curry leaves & hing.
• Pour this tempering on the soaked beaten rice.
• Add seesame seeds, dry coconut.
• Mix well & serve it.
  

alas!!, how can I forget the award I received from AniSheetu of "sweety-mykitchen".Thanks a lot, these awards mean a lot to me. I'm happy to pass these awards to Smitha of kannadacuisine, Deesha of VegetablePlatter , Notyet100 of asankhana, Ramya of maneadige, LG of TasteOfMysore

Avalakki Bhath (Beaten Rice Bhath)

Avalakki bhath is usually prepared on ekadashi (11th day of new moon or full moon) in few Ashrams & gurukulas to satisfy the hunger of the students & yet maintain the tradition of observing a fast. It is said that avalakki is ideal to be consumed on such days(I don't know the reason behind it, but will try to find out & let you all know). My brother-in-law is studying in one such institutions & he keeps telling about what kind of items could be consumed on ekadashi day. I just follow his instructions. I know, you would be thinking as to why I’m telling all these stories to you, it is because yesterday was “Vaikunta ekadashi” & it was avalakki bhath at our home.The preparation & taste is very similar to the very popular bisibelebath.

Ingredients:
2 cups yellow moong dal
2 cups thick beaten rice
1 cup chopped vegetables (french beans, peas & carrots)
1 tsp thick tamarind juice
¼ - ½ tsp powdered jaggery
1 tomato chopped
2 tbsp bisibelebath powder (You can see the recipe here or just use MTR bisibelebath. I used MTR as the powder was all over & did not have energy to prepare the powder)
Salt according to taste
3 tbsp grated dry coconut

For tempering:
2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp peanuts
8-10 cashewnuts
1 medium sized capsicum sliced
8-10 curry leaves
1 red chilli (broken)
A generous pinch of hing

Method:

• Pressure cook the moong dal & chopped vegetables separately for 1-2 whistles
• Take a broad pan, add 2 cups of water & tomatoes to it. Add tamarind juice too & allow the tomatoes to get cooked completely.
• Meanwhile, wash the beaten rice & soak it in water.
• Add the jaggery, salt, bisibelebath powder, grated dry coconut to the cooked tomato mixture & keep stirring.
• Add cooked vegetables & dal to it. Allow it to boil for 2-3 mins.
• Now add the soaked beaten rice & reduce the flame. Cook on slow flame for 20 mins (Add water if mixture becomes too thick). Keep mixing in between as it gets burnt easily.
• Prepare the tempering by heating ghee in a separate pan. When ghee is hot, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves, peanuts & cashew nuts. Fry till cashews & peanuts turn golden brown. Add red chilli, capsicum & fry for 2-3 mins. Add asafoetida & pour the tempering on the mixture prepared.
• Mix it well & serve it hot with papad or chips.