AKKI PUNDI (Rice Dumplings)

{ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON :

7/12/09, 4:54 PM

India Standard Time}

This time when we had been to Puttur in Mangalore District which is my native, my Dodamma & Maa prepared AKKI PUNDI for breakfast. This is one traditional & authentic preparation of Mangalore which is known to almost all households. Some try variations. For example it can be either prepared with raw white rice or raw brown rice (Kaje Akki or Kurchulu Akki). At home since we like it the white rice way, they prepare it so.

Oh! getting to relish these traditional dishes satisfies our yearn to have these at Bangalore, where we do not get it in any hotels. And this prepared at home is perfect in itself. Hmmm..... so let us proceed with the Pundi preparation.

Ingredients:

White Rice - 3 cups, raw
Salt to taste
Water - 6 cups, *(ratio of rice & water is 1:2, hence in this case it is 3:6)
A white cloth

Method:

Soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Then wash & remove from water. Spread the rice on a plain white cloth & let it dry completely. Once the rice has dried, grind it in a mixie dry, coarse (rough texture) without adding any water.

Now pour 6 glasses of water into a thick bottomed vessel or a wok & bring to boil. Add salt to taste. Now when the water has boiled add the coarse ground rice to it & keep stirring so that no lumps are formed & also see to it that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Cook it on a medium flame for about 10 minutes or till the mixture is thick enough as a chapati (roti) dough. Remove from fire & keep it aside to let it cool.



Once the mixture has cooled down, make small balls ( size of dough, used to make a chapati) & push a side with your finger to make a small pit kind of dent. If in case it sticks to your hands while making the balls, just wet your hand with a little water & continue making balls. Arrange these balls in a steamer (THONDRU) & steam till it gets cooked, on medium flame. You can prick a ball with a fork to check if it is cooked. Once done, just let it cool.















Serve it hot ( not piping hot) with chutney of your choice or simply honey. It tastes yummy with chicken saaru (chicken gravy) too.



This is the plain PUNDI. If you want it seasoned you can season it up before we boil the water *(as mentioned below).



PS: Variation - Instead of letting the rice dry & then drying it coarse, you can grind the rice directly with some water to the consistency of idli batter.

*Then , in a thick bottomed vessel, heat a tbsp oil & add mustard seeds & allow it to splutter. Once done add methi seeds(fenugreek seeds) for the aroma. Once the methi turns golden then add kadle bele (chana dal, horse gram dal) & uddina bele (Urad dal, Black gram split dal) & let it turn golden. Once it turns gold add the curry leaves.

1>Now add the water & salt & let it boil. After it boils add the coarse ground rice & stir continously to egt the consistency of chapati dough.

2>In case of the wet ground rice mixture, do not add water after the seasoning. But instead add the batter directly & continue with the stirring process. Keep stirring so that it thickens up to the consistency of the chapati dough.