Kunjippidi (കുഞ്ഞിപ്പിടി )

 As any other day, we were having our lunch with routine ‘matta rice’, fish curry, some vegetable ‘thoran’ and pappadam.  I thought about a change that was badly in need from the same style food. I kept this thought in mind though! But I don’t know, if some telepathy worked between me and my wife. The next day when I was at dining table for Lunch, it was not the usual meals or biriyani or ghee rice, but the so called ‘Kunjippidi’ (it’s Malabari name). Many of you might have already known and tasted this dish with different names like – kozhippidi (കോഴിപ്പിടി ), arippidi (അരിപ്പിടി ), kakka orotti (കക്ക ഒറോട്ടി ), irachi pathiri (ഇറച്ചി പത്തിരി ). The dish was yummy in taste and tempting in its look. We took a portion of this to our friend Ashiq’s home for a small get-together there, that night.  No doubt, it was finished and bowl came back empty within minutes. On their request, I’m posting the recipe here….
This can be made with chicken or meat or fish. We made with beef on that day.
Ingredients:
 Beef – 1 kg
Rice flour (flour used for pathiri and idiyappam) – 3 cups
Onion – chopped - 1 medium sized
Tomato – cut into small pieces - 1 medium sized
Greenchilli, ginger and garlic – Ground together – 2 Tb spoon
Meat masala – 2 Tbspoon
Corriander, pudina and curry leaves – chopped – a handful
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ½ tspoon
Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coconut – grated – 1 coconut
Cinnamon – 2 small pieces
Cardamom – 2 cloves
Clove – 3no.s
Shallots – 4 cloves
Garlic – 3 cloves
Salt – as needed

How to:
1.       Set aside the washed and cut beef for draining.
2.       Mix Onion, tomato, green chilli-ginger-garlic mix, meet masala, leaves, coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, and salt well with hand in a pressure cooker. Mix the beef too with this mixture and pour half a cup of water. Cook beef up to the required number of whistles depending on the nature of beef.
3.       Keep 3  ½ cups of water in an open vessel on stove. Add needed amount of salt and on boiling mix the rice flour well with the handle of a wooden spoon or stick. Saute few times so that the flour is well mixed with the boiling water. Switch of the stove. Close the vessel for 2 minutes.
4.       Kneed the rice flour well with both the hands and make the dough using less water. Once the dough with the required consistency is made, take small balls from it and press softly with the index finger. Thus make tiny round shaped ‘pidi’ as seen in the picture. You can spread raw rice flour so that the ‘pidi’s are not stuck together.
5.       Now cook the above ‘pidi’s in steam using a steam cooker/pressure cooker/ puttu kudam as per your convenience.
6.       Put the grated coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, shallots and garlic in a mixer, add one cup of water and grind well.
7.       Once the beef is cooked, pour the above coconut mixture into the beef and cook for five minutes. Saute well.
8.       Now mix the cooked ‘pidi’s into the above mixture. Saute well. Make sure that the pidi’s are not broken, but remain in shape. Cook for five minutes. Switch off the flame. Close the vessel and leave it for 30 minutes so that the spicy taste of the beef mixture is absorbed by ‘pidi’s well.

Thus the delicious and spicy Kunjippidi is ready. No need of any side dishesas it’s self sufficient with spicy-ricey flavor!!  But a hot ‘Sulaimani’ (black tea) would be a great combination with this typical malabari dish.

Posted in: Beef,Chilly,Hot,Indian,Kerala,Malabar,Naadan,Non veg,Spicy,Traditional