Godhumai Pidi Kozhukkatai {Sweet Wheat Flour Dumplings}

Steamed, healthy, easy to make, sweet wheat flour dumplings (kozhukkatai) are the perfect after-school snack or breakfast.

When I was little, one of my favorite foods (read – ‘the only breakfast that I ate without making a face’) were steamed, sweet kozhukkattai a.k.a, dumplings. Traditional kozhukkatai is made with rice flour with some freshly grated coconut and crushed cardamom added to the dough. My mom used to shape them in many ways, much like how I cut Boy’s sandwiches in different shapes now. My favorite was a long, squiggly dumpling that we used to call “the snake”.

The easiest, most rustic version is called pidi kozhukkatai. Here the dumplings are formed simply by taking a pidi or fistful of dough and squeezing it so that you leave a slight imprint of your fingers. So you see how it got its name.

Typically, kozhukkatai is made with a soft dough made with rice flour and jaggery syrup. Like many modern lazy moms, I am always looking for ways to make my recipes easier and healthier. Enter, godhumai kozhukkatai or wheat flour dumplings. Sometimes, I use brown sugar in place of jaggery as well. Nowadays, powdered jaggery or palm sugar is easily available and these are all good options in this recipe.

You do not need to work the dough much, just enough so that it comes together as a smooth, soft dough. This is a super simple and quick recipe. Kozhukkatai are a quick snack or healthy breakfast idea, not to mention the perfect after-school snack for hungry little monsters.

Here’s a cool gif that shows you how to shape dumplings or pidi kozhukkatai. I thought it would be better to show you rather than try to explain and fail. Let me know if you have any questions.

You will notice that the steamed kozhukkatai come out a couple of shades darker than the dough and that’s exactly what we are looking for. You need to steam them for just the right amount of time and they will have this slight shine on them, which is the mark of a perfect, soft kozhukkatai.

Godhumai Pidi Kozhukkatai {Sweet Wheat Flour Dumplings}

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Steamed, healthy, easy to make, sweet wheat flour dumplings (kozhukkatai) are the perfect after-school snack or breakfast.

Author: Anjana Devasahayam

Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 18-20

You will need:

• Whole wheat flour - 2.5 cups
• Salt - ½ tsp
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Coconut - ½ cup, grated (thaw if frozen)
• Ghee or oil - 2 tbsp
• Brown sugar - 1 cup (see notes for other options)
• Water - 1 cup, warm (you will need more or less depending on your flour)

How to:

1. Begin by boiling the water needed for your steamer vessel. Grease your steamer plates or line them with cheesecloth and set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium heat and dry-roast the flour for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. When you can smell a light nutty aroma from the flour, remove from heat and dump the flour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add salt, cardamom powder. coconut, ghee and brown sugar. Mix well with your fingers to make a crumbly mixture..
4. Add water, a little at a time, till you can form a soft, smooth dough. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle some more flour till it is smooth.
5. Grease your hands lightly with melted ghee or oil. Pinch off small lemon sized pieces of dough, make a smooth ball, close your fist around this ball of dough. See the gif image above to to see how to make pidi kozhukkatai. You can also form any other shape as you wish with the dough.
6. Place shaped dough balls on greased steamer plate, cover and steam them for 10-12 minutes. Remove and serve hot or warm.
7. Cool leftover kozhukkatai completely and store in an airtight container for a day on the counter-top or for 2 days in the refrigerator.

Notes:

1. You can use jaggery instead of brown sugar. Dissolve 1 cup of grated jaggery in 1 cup of water, strain to remove any impurities, and add to the flour to make the dough. You do not need to thicken the syrup, just heat it enough to dissolve jaggery in water. Nowadays, you can also get powdered jaggery or palm sugar which can be used like you would use regular sugar.
2. If you do not have multiple steamer plates, divide dough into two balls and keep one ball covered with a kitchen towel. This prevents it from drying out.

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I love to have them with traditional hand-frothed kaapi or South Indian style coffee. A match made in foodie heaven! Sweet pidi kozhukkatai are also served at festivals like Pongal.

So tell me, what are some of the traditional healthy snacks that you like? Have you tried whole wheat kozhukkatai? Do share.

Here are more traditional Tamil snack/breakfast/festival recipes.

• Paal kozhukkatai (Rice flour dumplings in sweetened coconut milk).
• Barley chakkara pongal (rustic pudding sweetened with jaggery).
• Ven pongal (savory rice and lentil risotto-like dish).

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I am sharing this over at Fiesta Friday, FoodieFriDIY & Saucy Saturday.