Gayathri Pai's Food Bytes: Red Boiled Rice Bhakri.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Red Boiled Rice Bhakri.

Small sized "Bhakri prepared from Red Boiled Rice (Ukda Rice)" ........ :) Served with "Khatta Meetha Teekha Godda ~ khajjura (Jaggery ~ Dates) Ravo / Chutney" and Keerlu ~ Ambade Kochla Nonche / Finely Chopped Bamboo Shoots ~ Hogplum Spicy Pickle ... Awesome Combination .......

Ukdo / Ukada tandulu is a konkani name for boiled rice available in southern parts of India. It is a major part of their cuisine being mostly rice eater. In olden days they always consumed this rice but over time things have changed and people have switched over to polished rice. Ukda rice is available both in white and red qualities. Its just the polishing that changes the colour of the same. I will not run into more details of the rice here as I am already writing an article on the same and will be posting it soon, so keep checking the blog for the same.

The rice is very good for health though thicker in consistency and needs a little bit of time in adjustment of taste. Anyways the one I posted earlier was with white ukad rice and this one is with red ukad rice. No major changes except the quality of rice and the quantity of coconut used. Red ukda rice gives much softer dosa / bhakri so you will need lesser amount ot coconut gratings. Do check on the other recipe too. I have served this with "Khatta Meetha Teekha Godda ~ khajjura (Jaggery ~ Dates) Ravo / Chutney" and Keerlu ~ Ambade Kochla Nonche / Finely Chopped Bamboo Shoots ~ Hogplum Spicy Pickle ... and the combination is really really awesome. Do check on your vicinity for availability of the rice. I am posting a picture of the rice for you to able to understand the same. I am also giving the links to the other items in the picture and also to the bhakri prepared with white ukda rice. Please go through the same.

To prepare the mixture : Wash and soak 2 cups of Red Ukda Rice (Red Boiled Rice) for 8-10 hrs or overnight. Wash again with plenty of water and then grind to a coarse rava texture with 1/4 cup of freshly grated coconut. Add salt to taste and mix well. Do not add more water. Grind the paste with as little water as possible. The ground rice should be thick enough to form round balls when you roll in between your palms. These are supposed to be made immediately once you grind the paste. However if you need to remove it the next day, refrigerate it immediately and remove it from the fridge well in advance to bring it to a bit of room temperature before you proceed to make the bhakri.

For Making of Bhakri : Heat a tava to smoking point and then reduce the heat to minimum. Take small amount of ground rice and pat it on a hot tava directly to form small bhakri. Be careful while doing this to prevent your hand from getting hurt. Keep dipping you hand in water before you pat the bhakri, this is necessary to avoid the bhakri paste from sticking your palms and also give it a nice round shape. The same can be done on a plastic sheet if one is not confident on making the bhakri directly on tava. Use a clean plastic sheet to make the bhakri, rub is over with little bit of water and repeat the method in the same way as you would have done it on the tava, once you get nice small round bhakri gently / slowly remove it seeing to it that the bhakri does not crack up or break and put on a hot tava. Pour some oil on all sides of the bhakri.

Let cook on medium heat till cooked on the bottom side and the paste on the upper portion does not stick to your hand when you touch gently. Now pour a little bit oil on top side and slowly flip over the bhakri and cook on the other side too. Do not overcook as the bhakri should remain soft but firm and not crisp nor should it get burnt on any side. Serve hot with butter, jaggery ravo, pickle or any spicy dish if you wish. But this bhakri is usually served with home made butter or jaggery ravo. The size of the bhakri depends on individual liking. You can make bigger bhakri too, Just take more ground paste for the same. If making small sized ones you can put 5-6 bhakri on tava at a time.

Serve the bhakri hot with "Khatta Meetha Teekha Godda ~ khajjura (Jaggery ~ Dates) Ravo / Chutney" and Keerlu ~ Ambade Kochla Nonche / Finely Chopped Bamboo Shoots ~ Hogplum Spicy Pickle ... and enjoy the awesome combination. If not serve it with any pickle or just ordinary ravo prepared from jaggery. It also tasted simply awesome with fresh homemade butter. Children simply love this one. So do give this a try. Please go through the links below too for the recipes.