Kuchida Kadubu | Khara Kadubu | Sihi Kadubu | Steamed rice dumplings with fillings
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Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3-4 people
 
Steamed traditional rice kadubu/dumplings wih spicy and sweet fillings
Ingredients
For Outer Covering:
  • 1 Cup rice flour
  • ½ Cup water
  • Few drops of oil
  • Salt to taste
For Sweet Filling:
  • 1 Cup grated coconut
  • ½ Cup grated/pieces of soft jaggery/gur
  • 1 Tsp gasa-gase/khus khus/poppy seeds
  • 6-7 powdered elaichi
  • 2 Tbsp desi ghee
For Spicy Filling:
  • ½ Cup toor dal/togari bele/pigeon pea dal
  • 1 Tbsp chana dal/kadale bele /gram dal
  • 2 chopped green chilli
  • 2-3 sprigs of coriander
  • 5-6 curry leaves
  • 1" chopped ginger
  • 8-10 powdered black peppercorn
  • 2-3 small crystals of hing/asafoetida or a big pinch of powdered hing
  • ½ Tsp jeera
  • ½ Tsp mustard
  • ½ Tsp crystal sea salt or regular table salt to taste
  • ¼ Cup grated coconut
  • ¼ Tsp baking powder
For Steaming Kadubu:
  • Few small banana/plantain leaves or few sheets of parchment paper
Method
  1. Wash and soak toor dal and chana dal for 4 hours
  2. To make outer covering, heat ½ Cup water in a pan with a few drops of oil in it
  3. In a bowl or plate take the rice flour, mix salt with it
  4. Pour rice flour into boiling water, cover and cook on low flame for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Keep aside to cool
  5. To make sweet filling, dry roast gasa-gase/khus khus till it releases aroma and changes colour slightly. Keep aside
  6. In a pan, heat ghee, add jaggery/gur, mix and let it melt slowly
  7. To this add grated coconut and mix
  8. Add roasted gasa-gase/khus khus and elaichi powder
  9. Mix well and keep aside
  10. Drain water off the soaked dals
  11. To make spicy filling, in a mixer jar, add the soaked and drained dal
  12. Add green chilli, chopped coriander
  13. Add black pepper powder and hing
  14. Add curry leaves
  15. Add jeera and mustard
  16. Add crystal sea salt
  17. Add chopped ginger
  18. Add grated coconut
  19. Start grinding without any water
  20. Add 1 or 2 Tbsp of water till all dals are ground but the paste is still coarse
  21. Add baking powder, pulse a few more times. Keep aside, this is the spicy filling
  22. By now, rice flour paste would have cooled, with little warm water mix it into a dough till soft. Cover with cling wrap or damp cloth. Keep aside
  23. To make kadubu/dumplings, lightly grease the parchment paper or plantain leaves, pinch a small lemon sized ball off of rice flour dough. Spread it with your fingers over the parchment paper into puri sized round
  24. Spoon over the sweet filling onto the centre
  25. Fold over from one side to cover into a kadubu, lightly press on edges
  26. Repeat this for spicy filling as well
  27. To steam dumplings, heat a steamer or heat water in your idli stand. Place prepared parcels of dumplings
  28. Steam cook for 12 minutes. The outer covering will be light and shiny and will hold together
  29. The dumplings are ready. Serve hot. On the sweet dumplings add ghee. With spicy dumplings serve kadhi/paladya
Notes
Only chana dal can also be used instead of toor dal. I like the flavour of toor dal and is lighter

Use turmeric leaves or plantain leaves if available as they give a very unique taste to the kadubu

Change the size of the kadubu as you want

Ginger adds flavour and is good for digestion as the dals can be very filling and heavy
Recipe by Food Of Interest at https://foodofinterest.com/kuchida-kadubu/