Thengai Poornam Kozhukattai & Uppu Kozhukattai Recipe

Thengai Poornam and Ulutham Poornam Kozhukattai also known as Ukadiche Modak is a very festive sweet that is made for Lord Ganesha's Birthday also known as Vinayaka or Ganesh Chaturthi that is observed in the month of August - September. The festival lasts for 10 days and is celebrated very popularly across most regions of India. On this day, Kozhukattai, that are steamed rice dumplings filled with coconut and jaggery (a sweet variant) and lentils (for a savory variant) are a staple offering made to Lord Ganesha, and enjoyed by all. Course : Dessert Ingridients : Ingredients for the Coconut Jaggery Filling / Thengai Poornam 1-1/2 cups Fresh coconut , grated 1/2 cup Jaggery , powdered 1/4 teaspoon Cardamom Powder (Elaichi) 1/4 cup Water Ingredients for the Savory Lentil Filling 1 cup White Urad Dal (Whole) 2 Green Chillies 1 inch Ginger 1/4 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing) Salt , to taste 1 teaspoon Sesame (Gingelly) Oil 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds (Rai/ Kadugu) Ingredients for the Rice Wrapper for the Dumplings 2 cups Rice 3 cups Hot water 1 cup Milk , warm 1/4 teaspoon Salt Sesame (Gingelly) Oil Instructions In a heavy bottomed sauce pan; combine all the ingredients on high heat until the jaggery is dissolved completely. Turn the heat to medium and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and the water begins to evaporate. It takes about 7-10 minutes for the water to evaporate. Towards the end you will notice the mixtures comes together, with all the water evaporated. The coconut filling will now look like sticky mixture.At this stage, turn off the heat and transfer the mixture to another bowl to cool. Once cool divide the mixture into 10-15 equal portions. This will be the sweet filling for the rice wrapper