It's nearly Easter and the chocolate industry in the western world is maximising its profits via Easter eggs. When I was little ( and living in India), my memory of Easter eggs were rather different. I never indulged in painting eggshells or stuffing my face with chocolate creme eggs. Instead, I remember gobbling as much kozhukotta as I could soon after Easter mass. Kozhukotta is a steamed rice dumpling with a sweet coconut and jaggery centre. They are shaped like little eggs and are an integral part of Easter festivities in the Malayali Syrian Christian household. My translation of 'kozhikotta' as I called it was chick (kozhi) basket (kotta). The correct translation I believe is 'big rock' , possibly old Malayalam, signifying the tribulations of Christ. Fact is, variations of this recipes are part of the cuisine of various communities in India. A popular version is modak, synonymous with Vinayak Chathurthi festivities. Anyway, here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
250g rice flour, you could buy a shop mix or make it from scratch.
150g fresh grated coconut ( shop bought dessicated coconut may also work)
150g jaggery ( unrefined sugar, molasses)
2 pods of cardamom375 ml water
Method:
Melt jaggery with about 25ml water and add the grated coconut and cardamom. Heat for 10mins and set aside to cool.
Roast the rice flour for about 5 mins to enhance flavour. Add approximately 350 ml water to the rice flour to form a dough like consistency. Make small egg sized balls with the rice flour mixture.
Make a hole in the centre of each ball and fill with a small quantity of the coconut mixture and seal it. Steam the rice balls for about 15-20 mins and they are ready to serve.
I hope you have fun making kozhukotta and let me know how you get on. Ann x
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