Comfort Food for Caregivers - Kozhukattas

The aftermath of the visits to the hospitals every month is numbing exhaustion. The two hour trip, waiting for the doctor, the chatter in the waiting room, the groans of the patients, listening to mothers and wives voice their anguish add to my sorrow and weariness.

Eating home cooked meals, being physically active, managing stress levels through prayer and getting enough sleep is crucial to maintain an even keel when giving care. Unfortunately hospital cafeterias are minefields of junk food. Piled, crispy, brown samosas beckoning from the top of the counters, gulab jamuns glistening invitingly from its sugar syrup... Eating junk food is immensely comforting. The pounds that I have piled on are not.

Eating Kozhukattas are comforting and have to some extent reduced the craving for junk food . Kozhukattas are steamed rice dumplings, made in Kerala for breakfast. There are two varieties - sweet and salty. 

             Salty delicately spiced Kozhukattas nestling after steaming - ready to be eaten

For those interested here is the recipe. 
Ingredients:
Rice - two cups
Freshly grated coconut - one cup
Cumin seeds - one teaspoon
Asafoetida powder - a pinch
Green chillies - four coarsely chopped
Dry red chillies - two broken into halves
Urad dal split white lentils (Vigna mungo)- one tablespoon
Mustard seeds - one teaspoon
Curry leaves - a sprig
Cooking oil – one tablespoon
Salt – half a teaspoon
Water –whenever required.

Procedure:
1. Wash rice and soak it in water overnight.
2. Drain the rice. Grind it coarsely in a blender with half a cup of water, cumin seeds and asafoetida.
3. Heat a thick- bottomed pan.
4. When the pan is hot, add the oil. Add mustard seeds to the oil.
5. When the seeds splutter add the urd dal, red chillies, green chillies and curry leaves. Stir with  thick spatula/ladle with a strong handle.
6. When the aroma of the lentils are released which happens when the urd dal turns light brown add the coarsely ground mixture of rice, cumin and asafoetida. Stir quickly to avoid the mixture sticking to the pan and getting burnt.
7. Reduce the flame of the cooking gas. Add grated coconut to the mixture. Keep stirring till the mixture thickens and leaves the sides of the pan.
8. Switch off flame. Leave it to cool for not more than ten minutes.
9. Make round balls using hand.
10. Place it on an oiled colander and steam for ten minutes with a lid. They are then ready to eat.
11. Kozhukuttas can be refrigerated in a container with a lid, reheated in a microwave or carried in snack boxes for trips to hospitals.

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