Munthiri Kothu Recipe

Munthiri Kothu is a traditional sweet from southern part of Tamil Nadu, especially Kanyakumari. Munthiri means Cashews and kothu means bunch in Tamil. Initially I thought it is sweet made with Cashews but there is no relationship between Cashews and this recipe. Course : Dessert Ingridients : 1/2 cup Green Moong Dal (Whole) 1/3 cup Jaggery 1/3 cup Water 1/2 cup Fresh coconut , grated 1 teaspoon Cardamom Powder (Elaichi) Oil , for frying For outer coating 3 tablespoons Corn flour 2 tablespoons Rice flour 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) Salt , as required Water , as required Instructions To begin making the Munthiri Kothu, dry roast green gram in medium flame until it changes golden brown. Allow it to cool and transfer into mixer.Grind into coarse powder and keep it aside. Dry roast coconut until it changes color. I have used dessicated coconut.Now add jaggery to a pan and add water. Stir and boil until jaggery dissolves and add cardamom powder and mix.No need to check for any consistency. Once the jaggery syrup starts boiling, add powdered green gram and roasted coconut.Mix everything together until combined. Once it is warm enough to touch, take small portion and roll into balls. Keep aside.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Meanwhile, take corn flour, rice flour, turmeric powder and salt in a bowl.Add water little by little and mix without lumps into a smooth batter. The consistency has to be slightly thinner than dosa batter.Dip the balls into batter and roll so that it gets well coated by batter on all sides.Drop the coated balls one by one into oil and fry in medium flame turning often until it turns golden on all sides.Remove from oil and drain excess oil in kitchen tissues. Serve warm and enjoy. It stays good for about a week at room temperature.Serve Munthiri Kothu as a dessert after your everyday meal of Mixed Vegetable Sambar, Cabbage Poriyal and Steamed Rice.