Sukhiyan/Sugiyan/ Fried mung beans sweet balls

In rural areas of my home state Kerala, political discussion and gossiping are done with morning newspapers and tea. In some tea shops (small  restaurants) even sign will be there “Ivide rashtriyam samsarikan padilla”, meaning no political talks here. Mainly because even friendly talk about politics, could end up in fight over their favorite political leaders.  The tea is always accompanied by snacks like parippu vada, uzhunnu vada, Neyappam, Undan pori, Vettu cake and sukhiyan.

Appa always bought sukhiyan from these shops while coming back from work. Actually we were addicted to the snacks that we got from there. My grandma used to make the best sukhiyan, she was an awesome cook, and nobody in the world can beat her. She could even make tasty curry with just onion and red chilies.  I was always longing about these snacks and wanted to make them for my tea. Even though it is a simple snack, some planning is required.  First soak the green gram/mung beans for about 8 hours or overnight, and then cook them. Finally make them sweet by adding jaggery, coconut and cardamom. Then fry them in oil with batter made of all purpose flour into golden color. Trust me in spite of all these steps when you take a bite you will feel, all the efforts are worth it. 

One fine morning, I got some extra energy, and started planning to make them. Finally I did that for evening tea. Here goes the recipe. If you want to make them extra special, you can make batter with coconut milk instead of water; I opted for the latter ones. Made with 2/3 cup jaggery for 2 1/4 cup cooked green gram/mung dal so it is slightly sweetened as my hubby is diabetic. If you want more sweet increase the amount jaggery to 1 to 1 1/2 cup. Here goes the recipe. Try some time. 

One year ago:Jicama with mixed bell pepper salad and orange mustard vinaigrette

Two year ago:Pasta with chickpeas, spinach and mozzarella

Print recipe from here

What you need

For stuffing

Cooked green gram/ Mung dal: 2 ¼ cup (1 cup of dry mung beans on soaking gives 2 ½ cup)

Water: 3 ½ cup+ ¼ cup

Jaggery/Unrefined sugar: 2/3 cup ( You can use sugar to but I prefer Jaggery. Increase the amount to 1 to 1 1/2 cup if you need  more sweetness)

Coconut: 1 cup (I used desiccated coconut)

Cardamom: 3 no

Ghee/ Clarified butter: 1 teaspoon

For batter

All purpose flour: ½ cup

Rice flour: 1 ½ tablespoon ( It gives crispy  structure to the covering)

Yellow food color:  2 drops

Sugar: 1 tablespoon

Baking soda: 1/8 teaspoon

Salt: 1/8 teaspoon
Water: ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon

For frying

Canola oil: 4 cups

How I made

Soak dry mung beans/ green gram for 8 hours or overnight. After soaking, pressure cook the mung beans with 3 ½ cup water for about 25 minutes or 4 whistles. And set aside.

In a medium skillet melt jaggery with ¼ cup of water and strain for impurities and also set aside. 

In the same skillet bring back jaggery water to boil and add coconut and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until it becomes dry, to this add cooked mung beans and cook again to  become dry, it will takes about 2 -3 minutes. To this finally add ghee and cardamom powder and mix everything and set aside. 

Once this mixture is cool enough to touch make small balls from it.

In a medium bowl make batter with all purpose flour, yellow food color, baking soda, salt and water to form a loose one and set aside. 

In deep bottom pan heat oil and when it reaches 370 F or hot, dip each stuffing ball into the batter and carefully add to oil. Flip few times to get uniform crispiness. It will take about 3 minutes to get fully cooked. You can fry 3-4 at a stretch. Once it is crispy strain them using a slotted spoon and drain extra oil using a kitchen tissue. 

Enjoy with hot tea.

Preparation time: 8 hours soaking time+ 1 hour

Yield: 18 no

Verdict: Yummy
Will you make it again: Yes I will

I am linking this Hearth and soul blog hop 95 hosted here.
 

Kerala Kitchen at Ramya's Recipe 
WTMLevent hosted by Rasi