Home Cooking....: Kadabu

Kadabu are sweet dumplings prepared all over India especially during Ganesh Chaturthi. Outer covering is prepared with rice flour and stuffing with sesame, jaggery, roasted chana dal, coconut and cardamom powder. Here is the easy and yummy recipe of Kadabu with step by step pictures.

Rice Powder used for making kadabu is different than one available in stores. To prepare rice powder for kadabu follow the method below.
Method to prepare Homemade Rice Powder : Wash and soak raw rice in water for 2 hours. Drain the water completely and dry it on a clean thin cloth for 30-45 minutes. Once dry grind it to a fine powder. You can get it ground in the rice mill for large quantity or powder it in mixer. Let it cool. Sieve to remove any lumps and store it in air tight container and use when required. Home made rice powder for kadabu is ready. So lets get into making kadabu.

Ingredients :

For the rice flour dough :

Homemade Rice Powder - 1 cup
Water as needed approx. 1 to 1/4 cup
Salt 1/4 tsp
Sesame oil / Cooking oil - 1 tsp

For the stuffing :

Roasted Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
Sesame seeds - 1/2 cup
Jaggery powdered - 1/2 cup
Grated Fresh Coconut - 1/4 cup
Eliachi Powder - 1/2 tsp

Method :

To prepare the dough :

In a vessel bring water to boil with a tsp of sesame oil/ cooking oil. In a bowl take homemade rice powder with salt. Mix well. (It requires less or more water depending on the quality of the rice powder. So make sure you boil enough water)

Add boiling water to the rice powder and mix with a spatula. Once it is cooled enough to handle, grease your hands with oil and knead to a smooth dough. (Divide the dough into half and gather if it cannot be handled)

Cover and keep aside while you prepare the stuffing.

To prepare the stuffing :

In mixer jar take roasted chana dal and grind it to a fine powder. Sieve to remove any residue. Grind the residue and sieve.

Clean and wash sesame seeds. Dry them on a clean cloth. Dry roast sesame seeds till aromatic and pops out. Let it cool and grind them coarsely. (You can use either white or black sesame seeds or both)
In a bowl take roasted chana dal powder, coarse sesame powder, powdered jaggery and cardamoom powder. Mix well.

Add grated coconut to the filling and mix. Filling is ready.(Add coconut to the required amount of mix. You can store the mix for few days. But if you add coconut, it would get spoiled)

To prepare kadabu :

Grease your hands with oil and make small lemon sized balls out of the dough.

Take a ball and flatten it using a roti press/ papad press using wax paper/ plastic sheet greased with oil. (It should not be very thin/ thick. If it is very thin there is chances of breaking and if it is too thick there will be more of dough and less stuffing in a bite)

Hold the flattened dough along with sheet and fill it with prepared filling in the center. Fold it and seal the edges by pressing lightly.

Place it on a plate and prepare more kadabu. Meanwhile add water to the steamer and switch on the flame.

Arrange the prepared kadabu on a greased idli plate/ steamer plate and place it in the steamer with boiling water. Cover and let it steam for 5-7 minutes. (Water should be boiling before you place the kadabu inside the steamer)