Kunjipathil/ Kakkarotti/ Erachi Pidi ~ Rice Dumplings in Meat Stew

14. K1Pin

 

I feel it’s been long since I have done a totally Malabar style recipe post on the blog. So let me break the delay now… 🙂 Kakkarotti, also called as Kunji Pathil (literally translates as small disks) or Erachi Pidi (literally translates as meat and dumpling) is nothing but dumplings made with rice flours, dunked into a spicy meat stew. It is a little bit of work, like many traditional Malabar recipes are, but the end result is so delicious that you will see your family literally licking the plates that it is served in!

 

The cooking is involved into two stages – one, making the pathil or dumplings and the second making the thick meat stew and finally you mix all of them up, simmer and then temper them to make a complete meal. The ingredient list may look long and the process cumbersome but if you plan out your cooking, this is a total winner at the end of it. Usually, I made my pidi the day before and keep it in the fridge, so that for the next day’s dinner, I am steaming the pidi from one side and cooking up the masala from the other and everything gets done in an hour’s time. I haven’t been able to find an easier way to do this! 😀

 

14. K2Pin

 

HD loves traditional meals and is always ready for it, but my kids are really unpredictable. (I think I am repeating this umpeenth time on the blog! 😉 ) While preparing the pidi for the first time, I made a limited quantity, since I was not sure whether the kids would eat, and if they refused to eat, I didn’t want to be the person eating up all the leftover food over the coming days. But to my surprise, the kids ate up everything and asked for second serving too, which unfortunately I didn’t have any extras to give them. After that, I make sure I make some extra so that the kids eat what they love.

 

While doing this post, it reminds me that I haven’t made it in the past six months, since I have become vegan – now moved to vegetarian! – since I can’t get myself cooking this sumptuous meal and not being able to eat it. Call me selfish, I don’t mind! 😛 This is one dish umma never made, so when they were here with us at the beginning of the year, she made me make this and really loved it! So now I can add one more dish to what she loves of mine, the first one being my biriyani. 🙂 Off to the recipe…

 

14. KakkarottiPin

 

Pin

Kunjipathil/ Kakkarotti/ Erachi Pidi ~ Rice Dumplings in Meat Stew

Course Main Course
Cuisine Malabar
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 4
Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

  • FOR DUMPLINGS PIDI
  • 1/4 cup grated coconut
  • 1/4 tsp fennel powder
  • 4 shallots
  • 1 1/2 cup rice flour pathiri podi
  • 1 3/4 cup warm water
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • FOR MARINATION:
  • 500 gm beef/ mutton with bone I used beef
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
  • Salt to taste
  • FOR CURRY SAUCE:
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  • 2 to matoes chopped
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 3/4 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1/4 tsp fennel powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin powder
  • Salt to taste
  • FOR TEMPERING:
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 6-8 shallots chopped
  • 2 sprigs curry leave
  • 3 dry red chilli
  • Coriander leaves for garnishing optional

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in "for marination" section and set aside for at least one hour.
  • For preparing the dumplings, first grind the coconut, fennel and shallots to a coarse paste. Put into a large bowl.
  • Add the rice flour into ground paste and mix well. Add salt. Add the warm water slowly into the flour and mix till you have a dough. There is no need to knead. It just needs to be a mixed up dough.
  • In a flat tray, sprinkle sufficient rice flour. Make small dumplings off the dough, and put into the tray. To avoid the dumplings to stick together, keep sprinkling rice flour. Ensure that all dumplings are of the similar size.
  • Heat a steamer with water. Line the steaming plate with an oiled banana leaf or aluminium foil. Spread the prepared dumplings over it - do not crowd it - and steam them for 10-14 minutes till the dumplings are non-sticky to touch. Continue till all the dumplings are cooked.
  • Meanwhile, put the marinated beef into a pressure cooker and cook for three whistles on meduim flame or till done. Switch off and allow the pressure to go.
  • In a large saucepan, heat oil. Add the onions, ginger garlic paste and tomatoes and cook till the masala is done. You can leave on low flame and stir it occassionally.
  • Add in the masala powders and saute for a couple of minutes.
  • At this stage add the cooked beef along with its stock and cook on high flame, stirring constantly, till the stock dries up and the masala coats all over the beef.
  • Reduce the flame to the lowest. Slowly add the cooked dumplings and mix it with a light hand, ensuring that it doesn't break, yet is well mixed in thoroughly.
  • Cook on closed lid for around 10 minutes. Switch off.
  • Prepare the tempering, by heating oil. Crackle the mustard seeds. Add the shallots, red chillies and curry leaves and fry till the onion becomes golden brown or even charred, but ensure not to burn it.
  • Pour the tempering into the prepared pidi and keep on closed lid for a couple of minutes.
  • Serve hot as is, sprinkled with some coriander leaves, if available.

Join the Conversation

  1. More than the dish i love the chatie

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Haha… thanks a lot Babitha…

  2. this is unique….never tried but looks delicious

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Thanks a lot Amrita…

  3. This looks super! Both rice dumplings and the sauce…a perfect combo and makes a great meal.

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Thank you so much Angie…

  4. Looks so interesting and delicious malabar recipe…! Malabar recipes always rockzz……!!Bookmarking this 🙂

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Thank you so much Remya… 🙂

  5. I have been wanting to try it for so long…it looks super yumm…I am hungry now

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Even I waited so long before making it, hehe… Thanks a lot Anupa…

  6. Adipoli, erachi pidi kollam

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Thanks a lot Swathi…

  7. All worth it – the list of ingredients, time taken and making the dumplings a day ahead. I have never heard of this dish, but nicey. I tried to become a vegetarian for 3 months, I lost so much of weight. Now, it is vegetarian dishes and maybe one meaty dish for our daily meals, Also, once a week, on Saturdays, it is totally vegetarian.

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      You are lucky Nava… I was vegan for 5 months and now a vegeterian and not even a single kilo I lost… 🙁 You can imagine my disappointment, hehe… Thank you so much Nava…

  8. 😀 It took 800+ recipes for you to get to this one??? How could you do this to our cuisine??? LOL. I prepared this just once, I think you remember me posting on social media. We prepare differently, we use soaked rice and its a bit coarse mixture. And we also don’t temper it. Guess each region has its own way! This one seems much easier than our version as there is one less work of grinding the rice! InshaAllah, I will prepare one more time for my blog! 🙂

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Ah yes, you did! The way you said is the most authentic, soaking and grinding, but takes so much of time! This is like a short cut way to make it, hehe… And pidi is not a part of food from where I come from, for us pidi is sweet and not savory. It is amazing how Malabar itself has varying food from Kasargode to Malappuram… 🙂 Thanks a lot daa… and yes, you must make it for your blog, in your style… 🙂

  9. Hi! What an interesting recipe! Is it roasted rice flour or raw rice flour that you use for your dumplings?

    1. Rafeeda AR Author says:

      Hello Elizabeth, roasted rice flour is better since you don’t need to make the dough in hot water… hope I answered your query…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Like
Close
The Big Sweet Tooth © Copyright 2021.
All rights reserved.
Customized & Maintained Host My Blog
Close

NOTIFY ME ON NEW RECIPES