Brown rice laddu is also known as “Thambittu unde” in our coastal region of Karnataka. It is an age-old recipe of my aunt’s family. This tasty laddu is very dear to my heart, which I used to relish whenever I visited my maternal uncles place.
Brown rice, also known as boiled rice/matta rice/Kerala rice is very healthy and packed with many nutrients, at the same time it is gluten free and you can have it without any hesitation. It requires very minimum ingredients but tastes heavenly.
Now we will see the procedure –
Ingredients:
Brown rice /matta rice – 500 grams.
Fresh Coconut – 1 (grated)
Jaggery – 500 grams (used organic, hence the colour is dark)
Ghee – 50 -100 ml
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp.
Cashew bits – ½ to 1 cup
Method:
-Wash rice once or twice, drain completely and Spread this on a clean cloth and let it air dry. It takes one to two hours. After one to two hours, check the moisture.
-If it is completely dry while handling, it is ready to use.
-Heat one thick bottomed wok/vessel, add dried rice little by little and roast, it will pop a little and texture will become brittle and little puffy.
-Do this procedure in 3 to 4 batches and cool.
-When it cools down, make powder either in a mixer jar or nearby flour mill. Sieve this powder and keep aside.
-Now dry roast grated coconut until it emits fragrance. Keep aside. (you can use mixer jar and pulse once or twice to get uniform tiny gratings. This would help in uniform roasting)
-Boil jaggery by putting one cup of water. When it melts sieve this solution to remove any impurities.
-Take this liquid and boil further till it reaches one thread consistency. At this stage you will hear “Tup” “Tup” bubbling sound too (this is the clue which I have received from the elders)
-When it reaches one thread consistency, mix in roasted coconut gratings, ghee, roasted cashew bits, rice powder and cardamom powder.
-Mix nicely. At this stage mixture will be too wet to handle. So, keep aside for half to one hour, till mixture becomes little dry and ready to handle.
-When you feel it is ready, take a small amount in a hand and make laddu and keep aside.
-When all the mixture gets over and you have finished the process, store these laddu’s in an airtight container. This laddu stays good for long even in room temperature.