അണ്ടി ഉണ്ട - cashew balls

These are the kind of posts I am always excited to share. A post which is linked to my childhood , happening in lush , green Kerala. And so the story goes.....
There were 2 cashew trees in my grandfather's yard.  Some of the days after my grandmother's short 30-minute afternoon nap, she would gather all her grandchildren, give us each a basket and we would all go cashew picking. We would climb the cashew tree which was not very tall and pluck all the ripe കശുമാങ്ങ (cashew apple) , which would be a mix of red, orange and yellow colors. Because of our frequent cashew picking we knew how to twist and pinch out the cashew  from the apple. We used to eat the ripe cashew apples. The ripe cashew apples and cashews were collected in the basket and brought home. The cashew apples would either be eaten or made into wine.The cashews were toasted in the വിറക് അടുപ്പു (traditional clay stove which uses firewood for cooking). The toasted cashews were collected and kept aside. This was done occasionally and when a large amount of toasted cashews were collected , all the aunts , uncles , kids and grandmy would sit down , break open the shell of the toasted cashews with  small round shaped pebbles and voila , you get nice, aromatic, toasted cashew nuts. We would remove the skin of the cashews and  pop a few of them into our mouths and the rest were collected into bottles. After a fun filled summer vacation , while going back home , along with other homemade goodies ,there would be a jar of cashews nuts.
It was these nuts that went into the making of cashew balls.
But now  I don't have the luxury of the above mentioned nuts , so I use store bought nuts or tweak the recipe a little and use mixed roasted nuts .

INGREDIENTS - makes 25 balls

1. Kuthari(kerala red matta rice)- 1cup
2. grated coconut - 1 cup
3. jaggery - 100 gms.
4. cashew nuts - 50 gms.(about 1/3 cup, store bought roasted mixed nuts can also be used)
5. 1/8 tsp salt

METHOD

• Heat a chaana chatti(wok) big enough to stir. Heat it on medium-high heat. Put the rice in the hot wok.
• Now turn the heat to high and roast the kuthari till you get a nutty smell and almost all of  the rice  pops nicely. Turn off the stove when the number of pops reduces to 2 or 3 in a second. The whole process takes 10 minutes. When I roast the rice , the wok begins to smoke. I just open my doors and windows , when doing this. Keep a close watch , and don't over roast the rice.
• Use a wok and don't use a non-sticky pan. I have used a hindalium wok which I have owned since 2002.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

•  Wait for the roasted rice  to become lukewarm and then powder it in the mixie. Powder it finely or you will bite the broken rice bits here and there in the final product. This can be made ahead ,powdered and kept in an air tight box. Powder it when lukewarm , don't wait for it to cool down completely.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Scrape the jaggery using a knife. This can be done ahead and stored days ahead.
  
  
  
  

• First Step: Into the mixie , put  the powdered rice(if you have done this ahead) and the cashew nuts(or mixed nuts). Pulse until the nuts are powdered. Don't overdo it because if you pulse a little bit longer , then the nuts will start to release its oil and we do not want that. Transfer half of the mixture to a bowl . Keep the remaining in the mixie jar.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Step 2: Remove half of the rice-cashew flour into a bowl. Into the mixie containing half of the rice-cashew flour , add half the coconut , half the amount of jaggery and sufficient salt and pulse. Pulse until the mixture starts to clump together. Transfer to a bowl and do the same with the remaining ingredients.
• Taste and check for salt and if necessary add more and give a quick pulse. Make sure to add sufficient salt at this step . Pulsing helps dilute the salt . 

          

        

• Step 3: Transfer it into a bowl and shape into balls . Makes about 25 balls.
• If while rolling , the balls seems very wet and oily , don't worry, they will dry up as they sit.
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

         

NOTES

• Add the salt while pulsing , it will blend in with the moisture of the coconut and jaggery. Adding it later won't help the salt properly blend in to the mixture and you will be able to taste the salt particles.