Undurallu

Late afternoon yesterday, we were having a casual talk and one led to the other and I realized that we were talking about our childhood, food and what not??? Kris told me that he likes Undurallu... I was confused whether I heard it right or not so I asked him again "yeah Undurallu!!!" he said, I sincerely felt ashamed and confessed that I havent heard of such a name, he was shocked... He did tell me how to make the dish but I felt so bad that I havent heard such a word, cos I was the better of the two in Telugu and everyone says I speak good Telugu and I use more Telugu words while conversing, which many of us in Tamilnadu dont do (We use more of Tamil words as its comfortable and mingle with people speaking in Tamil more)...



I was desperately waiting for night fall so I could call Mom, to find out about Undurallu... I did recollect Ammamma mention the dish but no idea about the name... Finally it was 8:30P.M. (6:00A.M. IST) tring tringgggg

"Hello!!!" my Dad answered.
"Dad, do you know what Undurallu is???" I asked not even a hello, no how are you, nothing at all...
"What???" he asked confused.
"Undurallu" I said.
"I understand you are talking about some stone" he said laughing (rallu means stone in Telugu)
"I wanna speak to Mommy" I said... My Mom was watering the plants in morning...
"Hello!!!" she said... I asked her the same question
"I dont know!!!" she said laughing and confused I did brief her about the dish she said Ammamma used to make it but she said she hasnt heard of the name... Next it was my Nannamma's turn... My Mom was hesitant to wake her in the morning but I did insist on talking to her finally, even she dint know the name... There was a triumph of victory on my face and a green light flashing in my head and a voice echoed "I Pass" ;)

I waited another hour to make another call, this time it was my Mother-in-law, she told me how to make the dish, I immediately made up my mind to make Undurallu the next... Later I realized that I liked the name and I did include it in my dictionary ha ha ha... Now to the recipe... Again its called as paal kozhukattai in Tamil...

Ingredients

For the balls:

Boiled Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Water as required
Cooking Oil - 1 tbsp

For the Syrup:

Cane Sugar - 3/4 cup
Dessicated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Water - 3 cups
Salt - a pinch
Cardamom - a few pods
Dry Ginger - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Wash and soak the Rice in Water for 7-8 hrs and grind it to a smooth paste, by adding little Water at time. Heat a non stick pan and add Oil pour the dough and mix with a spatula (medium flame). We do this to make the dough pliable when the dough forms a ball moving away from the walls of the pan is the right time to remove from heat. Roll them into small balls, again do not press them too hard they will become hard.



Meanwhile prepare the syrup by heating Water in a large heavy bottom vessel, when it comes to a rolling boil add the Cane Sugar and let it dissolve. Now powder Cardamom along with its peels and drop it in the syrup, also add a dash of Dried Ginger and Salt let it come to a rolling boil. Now filter the syrup, this removes the Cardamom Peels and Ginger skin along with any dirt in Cane Sugar. Bring the syrup again to a boil adding Salt and Coconut, when it comes to a rolling boil drop the balls slowly and cook until the balls are soft. Do not cover the vessel while cooking... Serve warm...



My Mother-in-law learnt about this recipe from her Mother-in-law, who was from Ramachandrapuram, a small village close to Madurai. R'puram is a very serene and a lovely place with lots of fields and trees all around. There are only a handful of families living there and they are a very closely knit community. The village has a small temple and a school to educate the kids... No tar roads, rather filled with gravel and some are just the rut of the wheels...

Day starts very early for people there and ends early too, people are very helping and innocent... Many families have their sibblings and kids in UK, US and other parts of the world and ofcourse many have moved away from the place for education and work, but still they get along once in a year during the ceremonies held at the temple.

This goes to Shama's Grammathu Kaimanam / Village Special Recipes Event --- April 2009