Thengai Poorana Kozhukattai – Coconut Poornam Kozhukattai Recipe

• Grated coconut – 1 cup
• Grated jaggery – 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
• Cardamom – 2 nos ( crushed)
• Water – little to cover jaggery 

For modak dough

• Rice flour – 1 cup ( I used store bought idiyappam flour or kozhukattai flour)
• Water – 1.75-2 cups ( as needed)
• Salt – a big pinch
• Ghee – 1 tbsp

• Grate coconut and jaggery. Heat a kadai and put the coconut & jaggery together. Add 1 tbsp of water if needed. Mix it well. Jaggery gets melted ( If you feel jaggery has mud, then you must melt jaggery adding little water. Make a syrup & strain it using metal filter. Then you can mix grated coconut and proceed). Mixture will become watery and if you keep stirring in medium flame, the mixture will become thick and start to leaves the sides of kadai. 
• (Note: The quantity of coconut should be more than jaggery. So start with 1/2 cup of jaggery for one cup of coconut for mild sweetness)

• Switch off the flame as soon as the mixture starts to leave the sides. If you stir more, pooranam will become hard and chewy. So switch off the flame at the right time. Initially pooran will look wet. But when it cools down, it will thicken and becomes non-sticky. Transfer the pooran to another plate to avoid heating up more.

• To make the kozhukattai dough, heat water adding ghee & a pinch of salt in a pan. Here I used 1.75 cups of water for store bought rice flour. But this quantity may vary.so keep some hot water ready in hand so that you can add it while making dough.

• When the water starts to roll boil, simmer the flame completely and add the rice flour. Mix well without lumps. Do it quickly. Rice flours absorbs all the water and becomes a thick mass. Switch off the flame.

• When the dough becomes warm, grease your hands with oil and knead the dough. Make it smooth without cracks and cover the dough with a wet cloth till use.

• Take a big gooseberry sized ball from the dough and make a cup by pressing the sides. Stuff 2 tsp of pooran inside the cup and close to make a coconut shape. Grease the idli pot and arrange the modak. You can also use a mold to make modak.

• Heat water in an idli pot and when the water starts to boil vigorously, keep the idli plate and cook the modak for 7-8 minutes. Switch off the flame and let it be in the idli plate for 10 minutes before you remove the modak. When the modak turns warm, carefully remove them into a plate. Offer to God !

TIPS FOR SOFT AND CRACK FREE KOZHUKATTAI

1. Use good quality rice flour. If you are planning to make by grinding rice, buy raw rice ( in Tamil nadu we call as “maavu arisi) ie. the rice used for making rice flour. Its a different quality, not the one we use for pongal.It is cheaper in cost too.
2. Always add the required water while making the dough. If the dough becomes sticky or dry, you’ll get cracks. Keep the unused dough covered with a wet cloth & then with a lid while you make mothagam.
3. Its always better to prepare the outer covering after making pooranam/ stuffing to prevent the dough sitting for long time.
4. U can refrigerate the unused dough by keeping in an air tight box & use the next day or the same evening.
5. Pooranam can be prepared the previous day and refrigerated.
6. Apply sesame/gingely oil in your hands every time when you make the shape.
7. Last but not the least, do not cook the kozhukattai in idli pot for long time which may lead to cracks.( maximum of 8-10 mins is enough)
8. Always place the idli plate arranged with kozhukattai after the water in the idli pot starts roll boiling. This helps for quick cooking & also the kozhukattai remains white in color and crack free..
9. U can identify the cooked kozhukattai by its shining look. Always remove the kozhukattai after it becomes warm. Do not remove when it is hot. Kozhukattai may break.