Description

Thakkadi is an authentic dish very own to the Tamil Muslims of southern districts of tamilnadu in and around tirunelveli district and Sri Lanka . I am not sure if this dish migrated from sir Lanka to India or vies –  ver – sa . I was introduced to this dish as a newly wedded bride and ever since loved this dish to the core . We do have a similar dish in the northern districts of tamilnadu called thikkadi that is an influence from the Kerala pedi and tastes similar to the pedi as well . The basic concept of both the dishes are the same that you basically are cooking rice flour dumplings in a mutton stew but with a slight difference of the texture of rice flour used and the size of the dumplings . Here we use coarse rice flour powder fried to a golden brown colour along with grated coconut , flavoured with the mutton curry and other few more ingredients leaving way to high lighten  the flavour of the rice dumplings even more . This rustic looking dish does take time to master the art of cooking and understanding like for a biriyani . I myself took a few years to get the exact loop of the authentic way to cook this dish that head towards to finding new cheats ways to replicate this dish . But what ever said and done the pains taking authentic way is the winner finally . This dish is mainly done to impress the newly wedded groom and sent over to married daughters homes as a gift and a mark of love . I was super excited about this dish and went raving about it when at mom’s place to all my cousins and aunts . When I mentioned the word ” THAKKADI ” my aunt , shaji Akka ( mom’s third sister ) just closed my mouth . I didn’t know what was happening around . Her two boys started laughing out loudly . My aunt then told me that this word is used to abuse people in her hubby’s ( Salem ) place . I felt so embarrassed and made sure never ever to utter this word any where in and around Salam there after . Wired that a dish which is addressed to be a sign of love here at my place is also addressed as an abusive word in another part of the world .

Ingredients for the mutton salna

Method

1. Grind turmeric powder , coriander powder , red chilli powder , cumin seed powder and fennel seed powder with little water to a smooth paste . The curry masala is ready .
2. Heat 100 ml of oil ( gingely oil or vegetable oil . Gingely oil is used traditionally ) in a pressure cooker .
3. Add cinnamon , cloves , cardamom , small onions and curry leaves . Once they splutter and onions are brown , top with ginger garlic paste and fry to crisp .
4. Add meat , onions , tomatoes , green chillies , coriander leaves chopped and salt to taste . Sauté for 5 minutes till colour of the meat changes and lets out some juice .
5. Add the poppy seed paste and sauté for another 5 minutes . Top with the masala  paste and sauté for 3 minutes .
6. Pour water to cover the meat about 2 inch above in the pressure cooker . close with lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles or until meat is cooked  to 3/4 . Add coconut paste and coconut milk .
7. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes until oil floats on top .
8. Top with chopped coriander leaves  and set aside .

Ingredients  For the rice dumplings

Method for rice dumplings

1.  Mix the coarse rice flour with all the other ingredients and mix well .  To this mixture add 2 cups of clear salna ( mutton curry –  as it adds more flavour to the rice dumplings ) and 1/2 cup of lukewarm water little by little and knead till you get a soft dough.
2. Let it rest for 5 minutes. make balls out of the dough to a big lemon size .  Set aside one ball ( or a little crumbs from rolled balls would do ) . Check the Mutton salna if it has enough water to cook the rice dumplings .
3. Add more luck warm water  if needed  and transfer to a large wide mouthed heavy vessel with lid . Check seasoning and adjust . Bring to boil and reduce the flame to medium but the salna must be boiling in medium flame .
4. Now is the perfect time to add the rice flour dumplings into it. Add the dumplings in batches of 8 at a time . Do not stir for 3 minutes . Once the dumplings are cooked it starts to float on top .then stir very gently with the help of a wooden spoon.
5. Follow with another batch of 8 dumplings and proceed as before . Be patient and cook the entire rice dumplings in batches of 8 . Make sure not to reduce or increase the flame at any time when cooking the rice balls .
6. The temperature has to be same at all times . Takes about 20-25 minutes in total . Remove one rice dumpling , cut into half and check if it’s cooked . The rice dumpling stays intact as a ball and has a smooth even finish on the cut side of the dumpling .
7. When tasted there is no raw flour taste . Now crumble one reserved raw rice ball all around to help thicken the runny loose mutton salna . Allow to simmer for about 5-8 minutes to thicken .
8. The mutton also must be cooked as well by now . Finally turn off the heat and serve hot with a garnish of coriander leaves .

Notes

1. can steam the dumplings in the microwave for a minute and then drop into the mutton  salna and cook further . By this way being a beginner you feel more confident that the rice dumplings don’t break and dissolve at any cost . I used to do so in the initial tries of making takkadi  but these rice dumplings are not as soft as the directly boiled in the salna ones .
2. always cook the rice dumplings in a wide mouthed heavy bottom vessel with the temperature at the same level from start to finish before the last 5 minutes . I usually use my electric rice cooker to do this step as it helps to maintain the temperature in the same level but once cooked do not keep in ” keep warm ” as the rice dumplings tend to break . You have to remove the inside vessel of the electric rice cooker and set aside until needed to be served .
3. make the mutton salna a day ahead so that you just have to prepare the rice dumplings  , cook and serve . Which makes things much more easier .
4. best had for breakfast as it’s such a heavy dish and advisable to skip lunch there after :-)) .
5. The mutton salna should be a watery loose mass of gravy so that the rice flour dumplings can cook and float in the watery gravy .
6. while checking for seasoning before dropping the dumplings , feel free to add more masala powders to taste as well .
7. a very tricky dish to master but never ever loose hope . Keep trying to master the art and understand the dish .
8. An easy fool proof flour mix . Rice flour ( iddiappam flour ) – 1/2 cup : puttu flour – 1 cup mixed gives a hassle free rice dumplings for beginners but the texture does differ from the authentic coarse grainy thakkadi ( rice flour dumplings ) .