Hemu's delicious kodubale

I've been wanting to eat kodubale for ages now, but in this neck of the woods, one has to make it onself. I'm the sort who always went down the road, back home in Mysore, to a friendly neighbourhood thindi joint to get my fix of kodubales and chaklis on demand. In the backwoods of Japan, however, this is not so easy. Even the ready snacks available at the Indian stores in Tokyo are all Haldiram stuff. That stuff is good too, but not quite the same as a nice crunchy kodubale!

Then I started bugging people all around for the recipe. Each person I asked gave me a different proportion for the same stuff! So I made a little at a time. When I say little, I mean very little. Somehow I wasn't too satisfied with the results. Most of them called for coconut. And dessicated coconut really doesn't make the mark as a substitute.

Last week, just before Deepavali, I started cribbing to Hemu how I wasn't getting it right at all. Hemu who?? Once upon a time, used to be the annoying kid brother of my best friend! But even all those years ago, he showed all signs of a good foodie. And he was more than game to volunteer his tasting and critical analysis at any kitchen experiment! Now he's all grown up and busy in a high flying job, but is still a foodie at heart! This is one guy who should start his food blog. Maybe I should get his big-sister to motivate him to start one...

Anyway, Hemu delivered. He got me this recipe, which, with a minimal tweaking, worked wonders!

Hemu's wonderful Kodubale



3 cups raw-rice
1 cup roast chana dal
Red chillis to taste
1 tbsp (generous) jeera seeds (roasted)
1 cup coconut
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste
water for kneading
oil for frying

Dry roast red chillis till fragrant, and let cool.
Grind to a fine powder with rice and roast chana dal.
Dry roast jeera seeds till fragrant. Add to the flour. Add salt to taste.
Grind coconut.
Heat 2 tbsp oil and add to the flour and mix lightly.
Add coconut and mix well.
Knead into a hard dough, adding 1 tbsp water at a time, as required.
Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 mins.
Heat oil.
Roll small portions of dough into 5mm diameter cylinders.
Take about 4cm or so of rolled dough, gently bring ends together. Seal ends to firm a circle.
Deep fry in batches in moderately hot oil for about 4-5 minutes a batch, till well browned.
Drain on paper towel, and store in airtight container when cool.

Notes:
If using dessicated coconut: In a small microwave safe bowl, soak coconut in just enough water to cover, for about 5 minutes. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Then grind to paste.
The oil needs to be about the heat you'd use to fry Gulab Jamuns. Hot, but not smoking.

My entry for RCI: Karnataka hosted by Asha.