Poornalu - Stuffed sweet dumplings

Poornalu are a traditional sweet lentil stuffing, dipped in batter and deep fried. They were a festival staple, and I have never seen them being made any other time. I am not a fan of the sweet stuff, but I love the savory outer coating. When I was younger, I would eat the crispy outer coating, and give the filling to my mom. The filling is similar to the one we use for poli.

For the filling: 

Channa Daal - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Cardamom - 1 pinch

Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup

For the coating:

Raw rice - 2 cups

Urad daal - 1 cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Canola/Vegetable/Sun flower Oil - to deep fry

Soak the channa daal for 4 hrs. Drain and set aside. In a vessel that fits in a pressure cooker, add the daal and 1/2 cup water. Cook for 4 to 5 whistles. Remove and cool.

When the daal cools, mash it. Add the grated jaggery and coconut. In a pan, add this mixture and cook on medium flame. This will become runny as the jaggery melts, but will solidify after a while. When the mixture is thick, turn off and cool.

Soak the rice and daal for about 6 hrs. Grind with water. This should be thicker than the consistency of dosa batter. When a ball of filling is placed in the batter, it should not sink to the bottom.

Make rounds of the filling, golf ball sized. Dip these in the coating.

Heat a pan with oil and when it is hot, drop these balls and fry on medium high, until golden brown. Drain onto a paper towel and serve hot.

Chakkara Pongal

Chakkara Pongal is my aunt's special dish. This is her recipe:

Rice - 1 cup

Moong daal - 1/4 cup

Water - 4 cups

Grated Jaggery - 2 cups

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Ghee - 1/2 cup

Raisins and Cashews - 2 tbsps each to garnish

In a pressure cooker, add the daal, rice and water. Cook for 3 to 4 whistles and turn off.

In an other pan, add the grated jaggery and 1/2 cup water. Let this mixture melt and come to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes. When a drop of this is added to some water, it should remain in place and not spread in the water.

Open the cooker, and mash the rice and daal. Pour the jaggery mixture into the rice and daal.

If it is too runny, place on stove top and cook till it thickens. If if is too thick, add some milk and coook some more.

In a pan, heat the ghee and fry the cashews and raisins, till the raisins plump up and the cashews are golden brown. Add this to the pongal, and add the cardamom powder.

Mix well, and serve hot.