Savoury steamed little millet dumplings, pale and smooth, shot through with coconut, urad dal and a mustard and curry leaf tempering.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Little Millet Flour 1.5 cups (about 180 g)

Fresh

• Fresh coconut, grated 1/2 cup
• Cold-pressed coconut oil 3 tbsp
• Mustard seeds 1 tsp
• Urad dal 1.5 tbsp
• Dried red chillies, broken 2
• Green chillies, finely chopped 2
• Ginger, grated 1 tsp
• Curry leaves, chopped 1 sprig
• Asafoetida 1/4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Water 1.75 cups

Method

1. Temper first

   Heat the coconut oil, crackle the mustard, fry the urad dal to gold, then add both chillies, ginger, curry leaves and asafoetida. Reserve a spoonful for garnish.

2. Boil the water in

   Add the water and salt to the tempering pan and bring it to a full rolling boil so the aromatics infuse the liquid.

3. Add flour off heat

   Take the pan off the flame and stir in the millet flour in one go, working fast with a wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy mass.

4. Steam the dough

   Cover and steam the lump of dough for five minutes. This second cook removes the raw flour taste that plagues savoury kozhukattai.

5. Knead in coconut

   Knead the warm dough with oiled hands, working in the grated coconut until it is smooth and takes an impression cleanly.

6. Roll and steam

   Shape into small ovals or cylinders and steam for 10 minutes until the surface turns glossy and firm to a light press.

7. Finish with tempering

   Toss the hot dumplings with the reserved tempering and eat them warm, with coconut chutney alongside.

Why this works

Infusing the boiling water with the tempering means the flavour is inside the dumpling rather than only on it. Steaming the raw dough mass before shaping fully hydrates the millet starch, which is what stops these from tasting chalky. Kneading warm, not hot, gives a pliable dough that will not crack as you roll it.

Make it your own

• Sprouted Little Millet Flour → Sprouted Foxtail Millet Flour Holds structure better and takes a sharper shape, though the dough is stiffer.
• Fresh coconut → Roasted split gram, coarsely crushed Drier, nuttier dumpling with more bite and no coconut sweetness.
• Coconut oil → Gingelly oil More pungent and distinctly Tamil in character; use a touch less.