Avalose Podi ||Cooking with family and friends - #6||

My sister was a picky eater. I have no choice but say 'was' because this time around when she came to Dubai I saw the 'pickiness' ( not too sure there is even a word as such) changing. It was not just her being picky but she hardly ate. Her favorite was chapati with chicken gravy ( she never touched the chicken in it though) So my Dad thought there is one easy girl to manage not much expenses on her food. This was until she grew up and then all she wanted to eat was non-veg food:) The hungriest time of the day was the gap between rushing from school at 4.30 pm ( read after throwing the shoes one under the cot and another under table, socks on the dining table and school bag on the sofa) and the play time which started at 5. We always rejected the option of left over morning puttu ( steamed rice cakes) for evening snack time. But our mother had her way. She would sprinkle a generous amount of sugar, mash in the bananas and feed us. That did taste out of the world - a dish we did not want to dig our hands into tasted so great when she fed us with love. That is how I love puttu even today as for my sister this is how she eats puttu - sprinkle sugar on puttu, eat a handful of that and then take a bite of the banana. When asked about her new style of eating, she says that she mixes and eats it only when mom is around to mash the banana in for her and she doesn't want to dirty her hands doing it herself.

Today's recipe is a dish that is eaten in the exact same way as puttu - sprinkle some sugar and mash in the ripe banana. It is usually eaten as a snack but hey, you could make it a breakfast dish too when you really do not want to cook anything else in the morning. I have done that:)

This is my 6th post in the series of Cooking with Family and Friends - this time around with my mom. We made this during my vacation in October to India. Also makes me think it is high time I post something that Shibin and I cook together on this series:)

Ingredients

1. White Rice - 3 cups
2. Coconut Grated - 2.5 cups
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Method

• Wash and soak the rice in warm water for 3 to 4 hours
• Drain off the water and spread the rice on a kitchen towel until it is completely dry. This takes about an hour
• Dry grind the rice to powder
• Add coconut and cumin seeds  to the rice powder and mix it thoroughly using your hands. 
• Press this down tightly and keep this covered for an hour
• Roast this in a wide pan until the color begins to turn to light brown. Roast in batches in case you do not have a wide pan.
• Always keep on low flame and using a spatula keep moving the mix around so that it cooks evenly and does not stick onto the bottom of the pan. This process may take about 30 to 40 minutes. ( bit of work for your hands but totally worth it)
• Let it cool and grind it to powder consistency. Sieve it and grind again until all the particles gain the same consistency
• Store in an air tight container. It lasts outside for a month to two and if refrigerated longer.
• Avalose podi is usually served with a sprinkle of sugar with banana mashed into it.