Paal Kozhukkattai

Happy Vinayaga Chaturti For All My Readers

Paal kozhukkattai is a dessert which resembles payasam. Usually coconut milk and jaggery are used in its preparation. But I twisted it a little and added sugar and milk instead. Both the versions taste equally good. My husband liked this very much. I added some coconut flakes along with cashew for the extra crunch. To get the coconut flavour, I added grated coconut in the dough itself. Today is the third day of Blogging Marathon #20 and I am posting under Ganesh Chaturthi Specials. This will make a nice neivedhyam for Lord Ganesha.

Ingredients:

For The Kozhukkattai:

Kozhukkattai Flour-1cup

Water-1cup

Salt-a pinch

Oil-1tsp

Grated Coconut-1cup

For The Paayasam:

Milk-3cups

Water-1 1/2cups

Sugar-3/4-1cup

Cardamom Powder-1/2tsp

Broken Cashew-3tbs

Coconut Flakes-3tbs

Ghee-2tbs

Procedure:

Preparing The Kozhukkattai:

Boil water along with salt and oil.
Add the rice flour, remove from flame and mix with the back of ladle.
Add the coconut and mix well.
Allow it to cool.
When the dough is warm enough to handle, dip your palm in cold water and knead the dough.
Pinch small portions and shape them into small balls.

Preparing The Paayasam:

Bring water to boil.
Add the prepared kozhukkattai into the boiling water.
Wait until it cooks. Do not stir until cooked otherwise the balls will crack.
When the balls become firm, add milk and bring it to boil.
Let it boil until the paayasam thickens.
Add sugar and cardamom powder.
Let it boil for another 5 minutes.
Heat ghee in a separate pan. Add the cashew and coconut flakes.
When they come to golden brown, add it to paayasam and remove from flame.
Serve at room temperature.

P.S: If you are doing in small quantity, then at step 4, remove the kozhukkattai from water and add it to milk in another pan. If doing in larger quantity, you can add milk to the water containing kozhukkattai. The reason is when adding large quantity of kozhukkattai balls, the rice flour gets added to the water while boiling and you will get a thick porridge. If milk is added along then it increases the taste of paayasam. But when preparing a smaller portion, the water will not thicken and the resulting paayasam will be very thin.That is why we need to remove the kozhukkattai from water and add it directly to milk.