SukkinunDe

SukkinunDe is a very traditional Karnataka(South Kanara) special. It is prepared particularly for lunch during the "Shraaddha"(Death Anniversary). Preparing this on other days is taboo.. but times are changing. This is a very rare treat at my place. I have never tried preparing this one on my own. When I expresssed my wish to eat something sweet, Amma decided to treat me to this one. It turned out not just a treat for my taste buds, but my blog too.... I was ready to tackle this one with my camera too :-)

As I sat down to put it into words, curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to know what would sukkinunDe be known as, in other homes. The word SukkinunDe itself did not yield any results. But googling for "sweet, deep fried, moong dal filling" did give me this one result. The picture looked sooo much similar to our SukkinunDe, I bet its the same. There was no recipe, just the picture, and the name said Sugiyan. Then when I searched for sugiyan, it opened up a whole world of SukkinunDe's... with different names, Boorelu, Sugiyams etc., Its a small world after all... :-)

SukkinuDe can be made with either moong dal filling(BeLe SukkinunDe,the one shown here) or coconut filling(Kaayi SukkinunDe). Enjoyed with a little ghee, its a wonderful snack for anytime of the day!

Ingredients :
For the Outer Cover:
1/4 cup Urad Dal
2 full teaspoons Rice Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt

For the Filling :
1 cup Moong Dal
1/2 cup Jaggery, powdered
1/2 cup Coconut, grated
Pods of 2-3 Cardamoms, powdered

Oil for deep frying

Method :
For the Outer Cover:
1. Wash and soak the Urad Dal in enough water for atleast 3 hours.
2. Drain away the water and grind the dal into a fine paste, adding water as required.
3. Add the rice flour and mix in properly so that no lumps are formed.
4. Add the salt.

5. Mix the batter well and set aside. The consistency of this batter should be thinner than that of Dosay batter, so that it just forms a thin outer coating.

For the Filling :
1. Wash and soak the Moong dal for atleast 2 hours.
2. Drain away the water, and take only the dal in a pan. Add a little water, just so it covers the dal and cover. Cook on low flame until the dal softens and breaks apart. You can pressure cook the dal with very little water, for just one whistle, taking care not to make it watery and mushy.

3. Add the Jaggery and the Coconut and keep stirring until it becomes dry and forms one lump.
4. Mix in the cardamom powder. Let it cool down.

5. Once cool, make small round balls, slightly smaller than ping-pong balls and set aside.
6. Heat oil in a kadahi on medium-low flame. The oil should get hot but not smoking hot. If the oil gets too hot, the outer cover will disintegrate and the filling will be all over the place, messing up the oil. So take care to maintain a moderate temperature.

7. Dip each ball into the prepared batter, to coat evenly and gently release into the hot oil. You can fry 6-7 balls at a time.
8. Once golden-brown all over, drain and remove onto a plate lined with paper towel.
9. Repeat with the rest of the balls.
10. Serve warm or cold with ghee.