Thenkuzals

Thenkuzals are delicate crispy nibbles, eaten with chai or afternoon tea. My son loves them, and Diwali was a good excuse to make them. It took me less than a hour to make them. They taste so much better then the store bought stuff.
Rice flour 2 cups
Urad flour 1/2 cup
Butter 2 tbsp
Salt 2 tsps
Hing 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder 1 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Oil for frying
Mix the rice flour and urad flour, add butter, and rub it in. Add pepper powder and cumin seeds to the the flour mixture. Take 1/2 cup water add salt and hing, stir until dissolved. Add to the flour mixture and make a soft dough. Add more or less water as need be.
Heat oil. Add the dough into the murukku press, use the thenkuzal plate for this.

Press out the thenkuzal and fry till light golden. Drain on paper towels.

Rice Laddoo/Ari Unda

This is a traditional sweet from Kerala. I remember eating this when I was a kid, visiting Kerala during summer vacations. Our Kerala visit was a yearly ritual, and a two-day journey from Bombay to Kerala, which I loved as I got to meet all my cousins, and eat lots of mangoes and read books.
Ari means rice in Malyalam, and unda means round/ball. Traditionally the rice is soaked, ground, and powdered. Then mixed with coconut and jaggery syrup to make this delicious creations. I used rice flour instead and it turned out fine.It has a unique taste and is pretty filling.
Rice flour- 1 cup
Coconut grated - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Jaggery
Add the grated coconut to the rice powder, and mix well.
Rice flour and coconut being roasted
Use a big skillet to roast this rice and coconut mixture, on a low heat, stirring constantly until it changes color and you get the aroma of the rice roasting. Keep aside.
Heat jaggery and water, and make a syrup. Remove from heat add the rice and coconut mixture, stir well. making round balls
The mixture needs to be moist or it cannot be shaped into balls.
Ari undas ready to eat
Make round balls, while the mixture is still hot. Pressing well to keep its shape.
This is my entry for the Special Edition Jihva hosted by Vee of Past, Present, Me.