Ellu-Gasgase Kadubu / Stuffed sweet rice dumplings

Gowri-Ganesha habbada shubhashayagalu..Wishing you all a very happy Gowri and Ganesha festival. Ganesha is such an adorable god,  he is cute, chubby and he is fond of food. We celebrate the occasion of lord Ganesha's birthday by feasting! (No prizes for guessing) This is the picture of our sweet little Ganesha. We lit the tea lights, offered the Kadubu to the birthday boy and then the Aarti before settling down to the feast.

We loved everything. On the menu was Menthya Baath, green beans palya, Kosambari, Nucchinaunde, kayi haalu and assorted Kadubu. I made Kayi Kadubu and MIL made the sesame-poppy seeds Kadubu. The Kadubus were served with Kayi haalu and oodles of ghee. Thanking my MIL for the Kadubu as well as the recipe.

We will need,

For the filling

Poppy seeds 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds 1/2 cup
Kopra  1/4cup
Coconut grated 1/2 cup
Cardamon 1
Jaggery 1-1.5 cup (adjust according to taste)

For the Kadubu
Rice flour
salt a pinch

Method:

• To prepare the filling, toast the poppy seeds on a hot skillet till the seeds pop and smell fragrant. Remove on a plate and set it out to cool.
• Toast the sesame seeds next on the same hot skillet till the seeds pop and are golden in colour. Remove on a plate and set it out to cool.
• Toast the Kopra and coconut separately till fragrant. Remove on a plate and set it out to cool.
• Pop the poppy seeds into a grinder and blitz it into a fine powder. Repeat with sesame seeds and coconut.
• Crush the jaggery in to a coarse powder.
• Toss the poppy seeds, coconut, sesame seeds, jaggery and crushed cardamon. Set it aside.
• For the Kadubu, mix 2 cups of water, a pinch of salt and two spoons of rice flour.Bring the mixture to a boil. Dump 3 cups of flour into the water. Stir well and cover and  cook the mixture. To know if the dough is cooked, touch the dough with a wet finger. If it sticks, it needs a few more minutes. If it does not, then the dough is ready. Allow the dough to cool.
• Once the dough is cool, pinch lime sized dough and roll it between palms. Roll out the dough into a three inch circle using either a rolling pin or your fingers. 
• Place a spoonful of filling on the right half of the dough circle and close the left half over the filling. Pinch to close the two semi circles into a dumpling. Repeat till all the filling is used.
• Serve it with ghee and Kayi haalu

P.S: To make the dough, 1.5:1 ratio of rice flour:water works well usually. But several times I have used more/less flour too. It depends on the quality of the flour. Adjust the proportions accordingly.

Sending this out to Prasada special in the let's party event.