Palathalikalu

The strands are cooked in milk rather than water, which is what pala means.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 200 g rice flour
• 250 ml water, for the dough
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 60 g sago, soaked
• 1.2 litres whole milk
• 200 g jaggery, grated, or sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 30 g cashew nuts
• 20 g raisins

Method

1. THE STRANDS ARE COOKED IN MILK RATHER THAN WATER, WHICH IS WHAT PALA MEANS. Its article is 367 characters and every element is in them: palathalikalu is MADE OF RICE FLOUR, SAGO, AND CLARIFIED BUTTER, WHICH IS MADE INTO A DOUGH AND COOKED OR STEAMED IN MILK, AND GARNISHED WITH CASHEWS, RAISINS, AND CARDAMOM POWDER. Cooked in milk, not boiled in water and then added to milk -- so the starch thickens the milk as it goes and the whole thing becomes one dish.
2. AND ITS OTHER NAME SAYS THE SAME. The article gives PAAL KOZHUKATTAI in Tamil: paal is milk, and kozhukattai is the steamed dumpling that is on its own page here. This is that family cooked in milk and rolled thin instead.
3. THE DOUGH IS MADE WITH BOILING WATER AND THE GHEE. Water, salt and ghee to the boil, rice flour in, stirred to a mass, kneaded smooth while warm. Rice flour worked cold will not roll into threads.
4. ROLL THIN RopES AND CUT THEM SHORT. Pieces the length of a fingernail, rolled between the palms. This is the slow part and there is no way round it.
5. SOAK THE SAGO SEPARATELY AND ADD IT WITH THE STRANDS. Half an hour in cold water. Dry sago dropped into hot milk stays hard in the middle.
6. BRING THE MILK TO A BARE SIMMER AND PUT THE STRANDS IN RAW. Twelve or fifteen minutes. They cook through and give up enough starch to thicken the milk noticeably.
7. THE JAGGERY GOES IN LAST AND OFF THE HEAT. Jaggery added to simmering milk will split it. Melt it separately with a spoonful of water, strain it, and stir it in once the pan is off the flame.
8. CASHEWS AND RAISINS FRIED IN GHEE OVER THE TOP, AND CARDAMOM. Its article makes it a Ganesh Chaturthi dish of the Delta region of Andhra Pradesh. Served warm; it thickens further as it stands.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes