Undrallu & Allam Pachadi

Undrallu, savory ones, are made as naivedyam (offering to god) for Lord Vinayaka especially on Ganesh Chathurthi day. Sweet undrallu are also made and you can find Indira's delicious sweet undrallu here. But in our house, we make undrallu not only as an offering, but also as a quick snack and dinner item.
Couple of years ago, for Vinayaka chavithi, I was looking for a recipe for Undrallu.. I googled for hours and couldnt find one for savory undrallu. Then I got this authentic, tested and tried recipe from... duh.. should have asked her in the first place.. my mom.. The main principle is to make upma (porridge) with rice rawa, make them into balls and then steam them. It is quite simple and low fat (You can make them no fat too).

 

Ingredients:
Rice Rawa (Biyyapu rawa) - 1/2 cup
Jeera - 1 tsp
Chana dal (Senaga pappu) - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Soak chana dal in water for atleast 10minutes.
• Heat about 1tsp of oil in a saucepan and add jeera.
• Add 1 cup of water (1: 2; Rawa: water ratio) to the pan and bring to a boil.
• After the water starts boiling add salt, soaked chana dal and slowly add rawa. Stir continuously to make sure that there are no lumps.
• Cook until the mixture comes together and looks like upma. Consistency should be neither too wet (if this is the case cook a little longer) nor too dry(add little water).
• Let this mixture cool till it is easy to handle.
• Make lemon size balls of the mixture and steam them for about 10-12 minutes in a pressure cooker.
• Serve hot with any chutney. We had our undrallu with ginger chutney (allam pachadi).

 

Allam Pachadi (Ginger Chutney)
Ingredients:
Ginger - 3"piece chopped into small pieces
Jaggery - 1/4cup
Tamarind - small lemon size ball
Salt - to taste

Seasoning:
Red chilies - 3
Chana dal (senaga pappu)- 1tbsp
Urad dal (minapappu)- 1tbsp
Jeera - 1tbsp

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan, add the seasoning and fry till the dals turn golden brown.
• Turn the heat off and add ginger, tamarind and jaggery.
• After the mixture cools completely, grind into a smooth paste adding little water and salt.

Allam pachadi is delicious with the sweetness from jaggery, tanginess from tamarind and special zing from ginger. It also goes well with idlis and dosas.