I still remember my mom serving a big ladle of sweetened rice dumplings with a thick coconut milk gravy in soup plate for breakfast. It appears like white soup..It is paal pidi.. My mom makes two versions of this.. one with jaggery other with sugar.
But this recipe is different..a vegetarian version..The very first time I had the savory version of Pidi or Rice dumpling was at one of my friends place. And it was a prawns pidi. It was loaded with flavor and I just loved it..
You could call this a one pot meal. I have made this couple of times now…and have it for breakfast or lunch…
For Rice Dumplings
- Rice flour – 1 cup
- Salt to taste
- Water – 1.25 cups
- Coconut oil – 1 teaspoon + extra to dab the dough
For Chickpeas(Kadala) curry
- Dry Chana dal/chickpeas (white ones) – 1/2 cup
- Hing – a pinch
- Thick coconut milk – ½ cup
- Salt
Grounded masala 1 (Grind the below)
- Onion – 1 small sliced
- Chili Powder – 1 tsp
- Green chili – 1
- Coriander Powder – 3/4 tsp
- Turmeric Powder – a pinch
- Crushed and chopped garlic – 1/2 tsp
- Finely chopped ginger – 1/2 tsp
- Water – 3/4 cup
Grounded masala 2 (Grind the below)
- Dry roasted coconut – 1/2 cup (Dry roast 3/4 cup freshly grated coconut in a pan to golden brown)
- Fennel seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
- Curry leaves of 1 spring
For tempering
- Coconut oil – 1 teaspoon
- Small onion – 4 nos, sliced
- Curry leaves of 1 spring
To prepare chickpeas curry
- Wash and soak the chickpeas in 3 cups of water for minimum 8 hours to 12 hours
- Boil in a pressure cook pan with lid open
- Once the foam comes up, strain the chickpeas and wash again
- Transfer the chickpeas back to pressure cooker pan and add 3/4 cups of water, hing
- Close the lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles
- Once the pressure is gone, open and add the grounded paste
- Now again close and pressure cook for 1 whistle.
- Once the pressure is gone, keep aside.
To prepare Rice Dumplings
- Boil water along with salt, coconut oil in a medium sized sauce pan
- add the rice powder and reduce the flame to medium
- Mix well and switch off the flame
- close the sauce pan and leave it for 10 minutes or once till it is warm enough to touch
- Now knead this dough to make a soft non sticky dough
- Dab extra oil if required
- Make small gooseberry sized balls with this dough, basically a bite sized balls
- Now Steam them for 10 minutes.
- Once done keep aside
You can steam the rice dumplings in a steamer or idli cooker.. Else you can boil water in a large sauce pan and place a steel colander above it (without touching the bottom of the colander in water), which is basically a double boiler with a colander on top of the pan
Now the mixing part
- Return the pressure cook pan to stove and heat it
- Add coconut paste, coconut milk and cooked rice dumplings.
- Give a good stir and bring this to boil well (Just in case if the mixture is too dry, add 1/2 cup of hot water and boil well.
- The mixture should be semi gravy
For tempering,
- Meanwhile the the mixture is boiling you could make the tempering
- Simply hear the oil and add onions and curry leaves
- Heat till the onions turn translucent..
- Garnish chickpeas rice dumplings mixture with fried small onion
A meal is ready
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