Amma's Tempered Kozhakattas

Today I missed my mother-in-law quite a lot today. She is based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This is a dish I learnt from her. It is indeed an acquired taste. As a young girl, I was only used to the sweetened,stuffed version with grated coconut or jaggery laced stuffed Kozhakattas that my mother prepared, but never this version.

I also understood that it was a favorite with her son, my beloved as well. Hence, as would any young bride in love pursued learning this from the expert herself-Pankajakshi Amma.

Take Rice flour(white/red rice flour), add salt to taste and pour into it some boiled water slowly. As the water is hot, it would be difficult to ply with the hot dough with your bare hands. So please use a spatula to knead it to a very smooth dough.
Pinch out and Prepare small marble size balls with the smooth dough. Steam these balls in a steamer. It doesn't require much time. Another method is sliding these balls into very hot boiling water and allowing it to cook through for around ten to fifteen minutes. Then extract them from the boiling water with the help of a slotted spoon.
Now, here comes the truly beautiful part-the tempering-take a small sauce pan, add some mustard, once it splutters, add some cumin seeds,two/ three broken down dry, red chillies, a tbsp of urad dal,some grated coconut and my fav leaves-the curry leaves. Serve it hot. This is usually a breakfast dish in Kerala.

Please remember, this is an acquired taste-I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being pampered by her as she would prepare them and serve me while we chatted non-stop. It can be eaten with any spicy chutney, banana, steamed ethakya or egg roast.

This is Amma, my MIL. She was at my mercy recently when she became unwell and I could actually play around and style her hair



Amma and I ...she is being forced to pose, she hates my camera!!!

Actually after nearly two years, I was reading this post once again and realized that the photo above is a "Selfie" with my mother-in-law. Ha ha!