Oondlakal

Okay, so perhaps I am cheating slightly with this, but having struggled to find an Aamchi dish starting with an "O", I have decided (after consultation with the elders in the family of course!) to make Undlakal into an "O" recipe - that is allowed, right? Otherwise, you might have to suggest a recipe I can try with an "O".

To put it simply, Oondlakal feels like the Aamchi equivalent of dough balls. It is certainly an any-time-of-the-day snack; something my amma (amamma/grandmother) would have at one of her "high teas" (which mostly ends up with food enough to cover all meals in a day!)

They are quite simple to make. I know I sound like a stuck record when I say this for most of the recipes I have tried but it really is. A huge plus point is that it caters to both, the sweet and the savoury tooth. I made half of it sweet (using jaggery, cardamom powder, and coconut) and the other; savoury (using green chillies, coriander, and coconut). While the dough balls are meant to be quite firm and are then deep fried, mine remained slightly soft (not enough flour, or not cooked long enough, perhaps?) and I shallow fried them in a pan. So the didn't quite retain their perfect round shape, but even so, they were tasty!

The photo doesn't do justice to this dish, especially it was a dull, overcast autumnal day (sigh, a sign of dull and cold wintry days ahead), but trust me, it did not take us long to polish both the versions off. That was my first time making and tasting this dish, and it was delish!

Ingredients

Dough balls

3/4 cup of rice flour

1/2 cup of wheat flour

2-3 cups of water

1 tbsp Coconut oil

Sweet mixture

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup jaggery powder

1-2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4-1/2 cup water

Savoury mixture

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 green chilly

1 tsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp asafoetida or hing

Salt to taste

Handful of fresh coriander

Method

Dough balls

1. Boil the water in a saucepan and add coconut oil. Note: Hot water from a kettle will speed the process up.

2. Once boiled, sprinkle the two flours into the pan. Mix well to get rid of any lumps and until a smooth dough is formed. It should come together and away from the sides of the pan. Leave the dough to cool for around 10-15 minutes.

3. Smear some oil on your palms and take small amounts of the dough to roll into small round dough balls (roughly 2 cm in diameter).

4. Shallow fry the dough balls in a pan. I was finding that the oondlakal balls started to stick to the pan but by lifting the pan ever so often and giving the oondlakal a good shake they would stop sticking, and would roast evenly too. They should be well cooked and nicely browned. Note: by all means, you can deep fry your oondlakal. Perhaps they will retain their shape better, and will definitely become more crispy!

For the sweet and savoury mixtures

5. For the god (pronounced "goad") soyee (means sweet grated coconut) mixture - mix the jaggery, desiccated coconut, and cardamom powder. Add just a little water to this mixture and cook it slightly over the flame, to melt the jaggery and evenly mix it with the coconut.

6. For the savoury mixture, finely chop the green chilly and fresh coriander. In a pan heat the coconut oil, and add the asafoetida (hing). Saute the chopped green chilly, the desiccated coconut, and then add the salt and chopped coriander.

Dough balls + Mixture

7. Once the oondlakal (dough balls) and the sweet and savoury mixtures are ready, mix half the oondlakal with the sweet mixture (god soyee) and the other half with the savoury mixture.

And that is it.

A cup of tea, and a bowl of oondlakal. Mmmmm. Or, would you rather have it as dessert after a nice Aamchi meal? Let me know how you prefer your oondlakal?