Semolina Balls
Few days back, I saw many posts and videos on Facebook about these semolina balls. The pictures looked extremely tempting and I have been wanting to try it since then. The recipe is almost similar to the kozhkatta
that we make in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But folks at home can sometimes be a bit non enthusiastic about all your trials. So, neither my hubby nor Neha liked this much, but believe me it was extremely soft and I enjoyed it.
The best part that I liked about these suji balls are that you need to use very less oil unlike an upma or Kesari and the texture is amazingly soft. Definitely worth trying once and perfect for an evening snack or a light dinner too. The lemon juice adds a nice zing to the dish and also the addition of turmeric and red chili powder imparts a beautiful colour go these unlike the plain white kozhkatta. You can try adding some finely chopped/grated carrots, beans, boiled peas/corn etc in the semolina while cooking it. This will surely make it more nutritive.
The best part is it doesn’t harden even on cooling and stays absolutely soft. Therefore, it can be packed as a tiffin item too. You can boil water, and the semolina in it and cook till the water is fully absorbed. But I prefer to add boiled water into the semolina for my upma and sheera. As always I have used the 240 ml cup.
Ingredients:
- Semolina 3/4 cup
- Water 2-2.5 cups
- Salt to taste
- Green chilies 1-2
- Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
- Red chili powder 1/2 tsp
- Lemon juice 1 tsp
- Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
- Sesame seeds 1 tsp
- Udad dal 1 tsp
- Chana dal 1 tsp
- Cashew nuts/badam 5-6
- Dry red chilies 1-2
- Grated coconut 1-2 tbdp
- Refined oil 4 tsp
- Curry leaves 2 sprigs
- Coriander leaves 2 sprigs
Method:
- Heat a spoon of oil in a heavy bottom pan and roast the semolina, salt and some chopped green chilies for 3-4 minutes.
- Pour boiled water into this and stir well till there are no lumps. Cover for 2-3 minutes and cook till the entire water is absorbed.
- Add some grated coconut into this mixture and mix.
- Grease your palm and knead this into a soft dough while the mixture is still slightly warm.
- Make small crack free balls from the dough and steam it in a cooker for 10-12 minutes.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds
- When they splutter, add udad dal, chana dal, curry leaves, dry red chilies, turmeric powder and red chili powder in low flame.
- Add the steamed semolina balls into this got mixture and toss gently.
- Add a spoon of lemon juice and finally garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve it hot with a cup of hot tea or coffee.
