Pagu kozhukatai / kozhukatai with coconut and jaggery

This is the traditional recipe also guilt free snack. My mom and grandma makes this when somebody visits home or during special occasions. I like this sweet very much. Before marriage I don't know how to prepare this, but   whenever my mom makes , I do some helping. Last few days I was craving for this kozhukatai. I asked my mom for the recipe, and successfully made . It was super tasty. My husband also enjoyed after coming from office. It taste good when it is hot but it taste heavenly on the next day.

Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

Idly rice - 1 cup

Rice flour - 2- 4 tbsp

*Jaggery - 1 and half cups

Water - 4 and half cups

Coconut -  1 cup ( grated)

Ghee (optional) - 2 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 2 tbsp

* The sweetness of my jaggery is low. So I added 2 cups. Adjust  according to your taste. But atleast 1 and half cups is required.

Method:

1. Soak the rice for 4 hours.

2. Grind it in a mixture. The batter should be thick and smooth.

3. Collect it in a container. Add  2 - 4 tbsp of rice flour to the batter. Rice flour is added to make the batter thick. So depending upon your batter consistency add rice flour. If your batter is already thick then only 2 tbsp is enough. Its up to you.

4. Roll it in to the smooth dough. So that it ill be easy to squeeze it through the muruku press.

5. Take a heavy bottomed pan. Boil the water also add tsp of salt.

6. Put the required amount of dough in the muruku press and squeeze it in the boiling water. wait for  a minute. It will get cooked and raise. After it get raised squeeze the batter again. Do it in small batches. Otherwise dough will dissolve and it will not be cooked properly. Repeat it until you finish the batter.

7.  Once you finish,  it will look as thick and milky. Break the long strips. See the below picture to know how the cooked batter will be.

 



8. Meanwhile powder the jaggery and add water. The jaggery should be immersed in the water.  Boil it. Let it be thick syrup

 

9. Now add the syrup to the cooked batter.Mix it well. Stir continuously until it becomes thick. Be careful while stirring, there is a chance of getting burnt at bottom.

 



10. Grease the plate  with ghee and make it ready.Now add the grated coconut to the above mixture.

11.  At this stage you can also add 2 tbsp of ghee. But it is optional. I didn't add. Add cardamom powder. Mix it well.

 



12. When the mixture is thick. Transfer the content to the plate. let it be cool down. After it cools completely, use sharp knife or spatula to cut in to squares.

Now our delicious pagu kozhukatai is ready ...

Here is the visual treat for you...

Notes

• Squeeze batter, only if water boils. Otherwise the dough will dissolve. after finishing 1st batch wait for a minute.  It will raise .Break the long strips. Now do the second batch. Likewise you do for the entire dough. Make sure that every time water boils and there is enough water to cook the dough. If the amount of water is low , boil water in another pan and add to it.
  
  
• Stir properly , Otherwise the bottom will get burnt.
  
  
• It will stay good for one day. If you refrigerate, it will stay good for two days.