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Tamilnadu · Breakfast

Paal Kozhukattai (பால் கொழுக்கட்டை)

Traditional 42. Paal Kozhukattai recipe

🧺 Ingredients

• 1 cup rice flour (raw rice flour — idiyappam flour)
• ¾ cup water
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 fresh coconut, grated (about 2 cups) — or 400 ml canned coconut milk + 200 ml water
• 3 cups water (for extraction)
• ½ cup jaggery powder (or to taste)
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• Pinch of salt

👩‍🍳 How to make Paal Kozhukattai

1. Boil ¾ cup water in a pot over high heat.
2. Add ¼ tsp salt and 1 tsp sesame oil.
3. Turn off heat.
4. Pour boiling water over rice flour in a bowl, mixing immediately with a spoon.
5. Mix until combined, then knead with your hand (when cool enough to handle) into a smooth, pliable dough — like soft clay.
6. Cover with a damp cloth and rest 5 minutes.
7. Divide dough into small marble-sized balls (about 1.5 cm diameter) — roll between palms until smooth.
8. Pinch into small elongated oval shapes (kozhukattai), or leave round.
9. The small size ensures they cook through quickly in the coconut milk.
10. Make approximately 30–35 pieces.
11. Blend grated coconut with 1 cup warm water for 60 seconds.
12. Strain through muslin — squeeze firmly for thick milk.
13. Add 2 more cups water to residue, blend, strain again — thinner milk.
14. Keep both extracts separate.
15. Pour the thin coconut milk into a wide, shallow pan.
16. Add jaggery powder.
17. Heat over low-medium heat, stirring, until jaggery dissolves completely.
18. Do NOT boil — keep at a gentle simmer (small bubbles around the edge).
19. Add cardamom powder and a pinch of salt.
20. Carefully drop the raw rice dumplings into the simmering sweetened thin coconut milk.
21. Ensure they don't touch each other initially — they may stick.
22. Stir gently.
23. Cook on low-medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally very gently.
24. The dumplings are done when they float and look translucent-white (not raw-white), and feel soft when pressed with a spoon.
25. Reduce heat to very low.
26. Pour the thick coconut milk into the pan.
27. Stir very gently — thick coconut milk should NOT boil or it will split and become grainy.
28. Just heat through for 2–3 minutes until the entire mixture is uniformly warm and creamy.
29. Taste for sweetness — add more jaggery if desired.

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