Upma Kozhakkattai

This one's from mom's kitchen - Tirunelveli style. Makes a great evening snack or light dinner. Breakfast isn't a bad option either, but the slight labour demanded may not make it your best choice for a busy morning. It goes really well with Tomato thokku / chutney. Coconut chutney makes a good combo with it as well. The kozhakkattais by themselves are quite self-sufficient with all spices. So, they can be consumed without any dish to go on the side too.

Ingredients (for about 12 pieces):

Rice, Channa dal (Kadalai paruppu) and Water required in the following ratio:

Rice : Channa dal : Water = 1 cup: 1/4th of a cup : 1 and a 1/2 cups.
(Increase / decrease these ingredients in the same ratio for more/ less no. of pieces)
Coconut (shredded) - 1/2 cup
Red chillies - 2 no.s (you can add more according to preferred spice levels)
Green chillies - 1 no.
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - to taste

For tempering:
Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp.
Asafoetida (Perungayam) - 2 to 3 pinches
Oil - 1 to 2 tsp.

Procedure (takes 30-40 mins approx.):

1. Soak the channa dal in water for about an hour.
2. Grind the plain rice into a coarse powder (around rava consistency).
3. Grind the soaked dal with the red chillies, green chillies and half the quantity of coconut taken into a coarse paste (Use as little water as possible).
4. Heat the oil on a wide vessel and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the curry leaves.
5. Add the water, salt, asafoetida and the ground dal paste and stir on medium heat for about 2 mins.
6. Add the rice powder while constantly stirring.
7. Add the remaining half of the shredded coconut.
8. Mix well on medium heat until the mixture hardens well (around Upma consistency). This step takes 5-7 mins.
9. Remove from flame and allow to cool until the heat is bearable to touch (about 5 mins).
10. Make egg-shaped balls (kozhakkattais :-)) using a few drops of water on the hand to help if the mix is sticky. The kozhakkattais are do-able with a single hand. Make sure they are firm and without cracks.
11. Steam them on high for about 10 mins on Idli racks.
12. Once cooled a little, they are ready to serve!