Rotte with Parippu Curry | Kerala Dal Curry | Dal Recipe

Rotte is a Reddiar specialty made with rice powder and deep fried (like pooris). It is served with a Kerala-style parippu curry (dal curry) made with moong dal. The combination is mind-blowing!

This is a very special recipe for me. I had wanted to share this for ages and finally got amma to make it last summer when I was in Kottayam. The pictures and the recipe she sent me just sat there in my folders until finally I decided to pull out some of amma’s recipes and post them all.

I am not sure of the origin of Rotte and neither is amma. But I grew up eating this for breakfast at least once a month. I have a feeling it’s a Kannada breakfast item, for some reason.

I haven’t tried making these on my own. Since it requires working with raw rice powder and boiling water, etc, (like for kozhukkattai), it requires some practice. But there’s deep frying involved in the end so I hope that compels you to try it.

Rotte is always served with a moong dal curry and aways for breakfast. On the days we have this in the morning, lunch is a late affair. It’s very filling and just plonks in your belly as you go about your day.

Recipe for Rotte

Makes about 20
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients:
2 cups roasted raw rice powder (we used the slightly red variety that’s common in Kerala)
~2.5 cups water
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Oil to deep fry

How It’s Made:

1. Mix the rice flour, coconut, salt, and sugar in a bowl.

2. Bring the water to boil in a pan.

3. Pour over the rice flour mixture and start mixing it immediately to form a soft and non-sticky mixture. The amount of water required here depends on a lot of conditions like the rice powder you are using, humidity, etc. Start with 2 cups and add more if required. Use a wide spoon to mix since the water is very hot.

4. The mixture should end up like below, leaving a dent when you press down with your fingers. Be very careful not to add too much water since we are going to fry this later. If you end up with a sticky mass, add more rice powder and coconut – no biggie.

5. It’s all easy from here on, I promise. Heat oil in a pan for deep-frying.

6. Clean and wipe a piece of banana leaf. That’s my sister’s pretty hand, btw. She was not posing for this picture at all 😉

7. Make lemon-sized balls of the dough.

8. Place one ball of dough on the banana leaf and with wet fingers (my amma’s this time :), press down lightly and uniformly into a 1/2″ thick disc.

Make sure not to make it too thin, it needs to be about 1/2″ thick, like you see below.

Amma wants me to stress here that you can also use the palm of your other hand to do this. You know, in case you are lazy like her younger daughter.

9. Once the oil is almost smoking hot, drop this into it.

The process of frying is very similar to how you make pooris but it takes longer to get cooked. Once once side is golden brown, turn and cook the other side. They will (or should) puff up just like pooris.

Drain and serve hot with moong dal parippu curry. Note that there will be a thick-ish layer in the middle of the rotte apart from the puffed up sides. The centres are not hollow like for pooris.

Recipe for Parippu Curry – Dal Curry (for Rotte)

Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup moong dal / cherupayar parippu
1/4 cup grated coconut
~2 cups water
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp powdered jeera / jeerakam / cumin seeds
A pinch of turmeric powder
2 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste

For tempering:
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 dry green chillies
A few curry leaves
3-4 shallots, sliced long

How It’s Made:

1. Roast the moong dal in a dry pan until golden brown.

2. Transfer this along with all other ingredients (except salt) into a pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles (may differ according to your cooker – the dal needs to be cooked soft). Wait until pressure leaves, open, and mix in salt.

3. Heat oil for tempering and add the other ingredients. When the mustard seeds start to pop and the red chillies start to glisten, dunk this into the cooked dal. Mix well.

Serve hot with rotte.

Just typing this recipe out makes me so homesick. I clearly remember the day amma made this and my sis and I pottered around the kitchen, chattering, laughing, and generally getting in her way.

I know it looks like a lot of steps for the rotte but that’s because the steps are photographed in detail. I had nothing to do but click, you see 🙂

I hope you try this. I hope it comes out great for you. That’s the next best thing to inviting you all home and feeding you hot rottes with parippu curry!