Sunday, August 03, 2008

Ribbon Pakoda

As far as I can remember, no Diwali passed by without my mom's special Ribbon Pakoda. We had to have it to make it a Diwali. Thick, crunchy, crispy, right amount of salt, right amount of heat, not oily at all by any means - the perfect way it should be. Amma used to soak 2 kgs of rice and grind it in her grinder machine and add pottukadalai powder (roasted gram dal) and other stuff and make it deep into the night, just a day before Diwali. Sometimes she used to make it even on other days just because. To make a normal day special. I have never tasted Ribbon Pakoda, better than hers. This I say after trying many many different Ribbon Pakoda recipes from aunties, my grandma, relatives and even those well renowned sweet stores.

Now I had made it once, exactly the same way my mom used to make and it was just awesome. I tried the first time halving her recipe, but even that took a HUGE amount of time to finish making the entire lot. I never tried it again. Then recently I was going to Saffronhut's yummy recipes and found a ribbon pakoda recipe which used 1 cup rice flour. Just 1 cup! No soaking, grinding, nothing. This, I can do - I thought. It should take very less time and effort. But I don't like kadalaimaavu taste in Ribbon Pakoda. What do I do now?? Then something clicked and I realized that I could micro-size my mom's recipe and use rice flour instead. :) Voila! This recipe was born that minute. And guess what? It tasted almost the same way as my mom's. And now, my daughter enjoys it the same way her mom did in her early years.


Rice flour - one 265 ml cup + 2 tbsp
Pottukadalai (Roasted gram dal/dhalia) - powdered - 1/2 of the same cup
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (or more if you like)
White sesame seeds - 1 Tbsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Butter - 1/2 tsp, softened
Salt - to taste


Heat oil in a thick cast iron pan. I used Canola oil.

Sift rice flour and pottukadalai flour and mix together. Add the rest of the stuff (except butter) and mix well and keep it aside. Mix it with the dry flour till it's not sticky anymore and it is well mixed with the flour. Add some water and mix it till it becomes a thick dough. The lesser the water, the better.

Use the ribbon pakoda disc in the murukku maker and make flat ribbon like designs in the hot oil. Drain on paper towels. Leave it out for 20 mins and store in airtight container.

Keeps well for almost a month, if you have that much self control to not eat it until then. :) I like it to eat on its own or with Sambar saadham or rasam saadham.

Note:
1. If the ribbons are not forming well and is absorbing more oil, the dough is too watery. Add more rice flour.
2. If it's too hard to press, add 1/2 tbsp of water and try again. If still hard to press, add some more water.
3. Do not add more butter. It makes the ribbons very crumbly.

11 comments:

indosungod said...

Kay, those Ribbon Pakodas are a delight. Yes using rice flour must be easier than grinding the soaked rice. My ammayi makes the best ribbon pakodas, even now when my mom travels she brings them along.

I have never ventured to make these. May be it is time. Litte M is enjoying the ribbon pakodas?

Kay said...

Ah! She's been eating those like there's no tomorrow. After she finishes a serving, she asks 'kinnum venum' lol for more.

If you want to venture into RP making, now is the time, while your mom is there at your place. Moms have all those tips and tricks under their sleeves. Calling 2-3 times while you are making RPs with one cup of rice flour is no fun! Dont ask me how I know. ;)

Mrs. K said...

Did you call me? lol.. oh you meant RP for ribbon pakoda?
Welcome back, Kay! So good to see you back.
I love pakodas..but always have a starting trouble with deep frying. But once the oil is hot in a big wok, I can go non-stop frying. Since I won't reuse oil, I try to maximize it by frying as much as possible! Last week I heated up oil and fried urad dal vada, bondas, onion rings, and finally pappadams..then trashed the oil!

Kay said...

RP!!! so good to see you again my friend! :)

Like you, I usually don't fry anything at all. This has been my second time frying Ribbon Pakoda in 30 yrs! If I make vadas, I'll make some appalams too and then I'll trash it too. I heard using the oil again and again makes it toxic.

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow! Great recipes and Wonderful photos!

Kumudha said...

I too adore ribbon pakoda. I vividly remember eating these in Bangalore.

Kay said...

Thanks Malar and Kumudha.

Sonia said...

hey I really like your recepies. I tried a few things and they came out wonderful. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

hey, ur ribbon pakoda is sooo tempting, n 'am gonna try it to'de..
luv,
saji :)

Kay said...

Thanks YPO. :)

Saji, check your mail! and call me sometime. :)

sitting at home said...

your moms ribbons pakoda's must have been good.So are my mom's.
So much so that my mom is known to many as 'ribbon mami'.
I came across your blog with the very enticing picture of ribbon pakoda when searching for a good 'ribbon' recipe.thanks for the same.