Kobbari Boorelu/ Kobbari vadalu

First of all I wish you all a Very Happy Sankranthi. Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious occasions for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervour & gaiety. The day is known by various names and a variety of traditions are witnessed as one explores the festival in different states. Call it Lohri, Pongal or Sankranti, the festival conveys the same message -- the bond of brotherhood and the spirit of oneness should prevail despite all odds. 

It is a harvest festival. Makar Sankranti is perhaps the only Indian festival whose date always falls on the same day every year i.e. the 14th of January according to the Solar Calendar.  In south India, the festival is celebrated for four days. The first day is called 'Bhogi', the second day, 'Sankranti', the third day, 'Kanuma' and the fourth day, 'Mukkanuma'. 

Away from home, here we miss all the spirit of Sankranthi, the bonfires, rangolis, traditional dresses and definitely the delicious food. As an attempt to prepare some traditional dishes, I prepared these kobbari boorelu for the first time in my life and wanted to share this recipe with you.

Ingredients :

Rice – ½ kg

Jaggery – ½ kg

Water – ½ cup

Cardamon powder – ¼ tbsp

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Oil – for frying

Preparation:

• Wash and soak the rice for about 4 hours and drain the water and spread it on a towel and let it dry for about an hour, till the moisture evaporates.
• Now in a grinder, powder the rice till smooth powder. It is better to sieve it with a sieve to have a smooth powder.  The resultant flour is little moist. It is very important that the flour is moist and to have it so, press the flour tightly with hand so that it will not become dry.
• Now in a thick bottomed vessel, heat the water and add the powdered jaggery and let it cook till you can make a ball out of this. This you can find out by putting a drop of the syrup in a small pool of water, you should be able to make a small round.
• Add the grated coconut and cardamom powder to the syrup and mix well and let it cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Now add the rice flour to this and stir to avoid lumps. When it starts thickening, you can stop adding the flour and remove it from the flame. If you add too much of flour, the boorelu would be really hard.
• Now cool the mixture to room temperature. Now heat oil in a pan to fry the boorelu.
• To make the boorelu, smear some ghee on your hand, take some mix and make it a round ball.
• Flatten the ball on a greased plastic foil to make a small roti and drop it in the hot oil and fry on both the sides till golden brown.
• Now remove it from oil and place it on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.
• Store them in a tight container after complete cooling. Their shelf life is about one month.