Kadalai Paruppu & Ellu Poorana Kozhukattai / Steamed Stuffed Rice dumplings

I am a little late in posting the kozhukattai/kadubu I made for Vinayaka Chaturthi. Trust everybody had a great celebration. I had a good one. Made two types of sweet and one savory kozhukattai along with black sundal for the neivedyam. This is my first attempt in making kozhukattai on my own and it came out well for a first timer. Since this was a traditional recipe I had been trying to gather as many tips and techniques for the preparation. Got my sister's advice on making the outer covering. Kadalai paruppu / Split chick peas was the traditional filling for kozhukattai we grew up with, so I stuck to that one. I had been really nervous for I had to make without tasting or sampling (offering to God first). But the measurements below works really perfect. I also tried to take step-by-step pictures when I made the second batch.

Preparation Work:
All the cup measurements here refer to the rice cooker measurement cup approx 170 ml
For the outer covering:
Raw rice/Pacharisi - 3 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp + as needed
Water - to grind the rice
Method:
Wash and soak the rice for 2 to 3 hrs. Grind it in a blender with salt and water until smooth. The batter can be runny. Heat a non-stick pan in medium heat with 1 tbsp. Pour the rice batter and mix with a wooden spoon in med-low heat. Mix until the water dries out and the rice comes together as a dough. Remove from heat, apply oil all over and keep covered. Keep a close eye on the batter when on heat and mix continuously as parts of it tend to dry out soon.

Cooking the Dhal/Kadala paruppu:
Split Chick peas/Chana dhal/Kadala paruppu - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch
Water - 3 cups
Method:
Wash and soak the dhal for 30 mins. Cook with 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. When done the dhal should be mashed when pressed but should still hold its shape. Alternatively, you could wash and pressure cook for 2 or 3 whistles. The dhal should not be soaked if pressure cooking.

Filling:
1) Paruppu Sweet :
Split Chick peas/Chana dhal/Kadala paruppu - cooked - 1 cup
Jaggery - grated - loosely packed - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp (fresh or frozen)
Method:
Pulse the ingredients together in a blender/mixie for a couple of seconds until the mixture has a coarse texture.

2) Paruppu Savory:
Split Chick peas/Chana dhal/Kadala paruppu - cooked - 1 cup
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green Chilli - 2 - chopped fine
Curry leaves - 4
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Method:
Pulse the cooked cooled dhal and salt together in a blender/mixie for a couple of seconds until the mixture has a coarse texture. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and green chilli. Saute for a minute and pour the tempering over the dhal mixture and mix uniformly.

3) Sesame sweet:
White Sesame Seeds/Ellu - 1/2 cup (Can use black sesame seeds as well)
Jaggery - grated - tightly packed - 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp
Method:
Pulse the ingredients together in a blender/mixie for a couple of seconds until the mixture has a coarse texture.

Putting together/Making the kozhukattai:
Take a working board and place a plastic sheet on it. Apply some oil over it. Pinch a small lemon sized ball of the rice mix and flatten it on the plastic sheet. Take a teaspoon of the filling (anything of the above 3) and place it in the center. Fold the plastic sheet over to make a half-circle. Press the edges to seal it completely. Use the finger tips to press and remove the extra dough from the edges.

Place the prepared kozhukattais in a steamer plate without overlapping. I used my idli plates. Steam for 10 mins. Repeat for the rest of the dough and filling. To check for done-ness see if the top of the steamed kozhukattais is glossy. In the below picture the photo on the right shows the cooked kozhukattais which look shiny. Remove from heat and allow to cool in the steamer plate for 10 mins and then serve warm. This is THE favorite offering/neivedyam of Lord Ganesh.

Mani/Ammini Kozhukattai:
Mani means tiny beads and these little kozhukattais are prepared with the left over rice dough. The process is pretty simple. Make small blueberry/seedai sized balls of the dough and steam for about 7 to 10 mins. Mix with the leftover kadala paruppu savory pooranam/filling. Serve warm.

Note:
You could grind the rice batter and cook the chana dhal and store it in the fridge the previous day. This makes the life easier to spend less time while preparing during the pooja day. I also grate jaggery in advance and store it. Also check out the easier version here - Pidi Kozhukattai.
I am sending this traditional kozhukattais to Serve It - Steamed event happening here and co-hosted by Denny. And also to FSF-Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi event by Vatsala and Sonia and Flavours of South India event by Nayna.

Also sending this to Akila's Dish Name Starts with K