Cheenikai kadbu - Sweet Idli

For many of you cheenikai kadbu must be a new dish. Well, to simplify, let me call it sweet idli.

We had a holiday at India this October for Deepavali. All of us had loads of fun shopping, bursting crackers, eating sweet dishes and meeting friends/ relatives.
My mom had prepared varieties of sweets and snacks for us that tickled out taste buds. Everyday we would find a rare dish placed on the dining table. Cheenikai kadbu was one among them.

After two weeks of fun and relaxation, we were back to routine. Both of us went to office, spent evenings at gym or at home. Over the weekend, Adarsh went to the market to get veggies and fruits and there he comes with this vegetable - cheeni kai! Well, that's pumpkin for those who don't know.

He wanted me to prepare cheenikai kadbu. He had loved the taste of it at India. So there I go - another experimentation in the kitchen. I called up mom to jot down the recipe. Mom, as usual began explaining her recipe. Yes! she thinks I am still a teenager struggling to cook. So she describes the recipe with precise details. :)

Ingredients:
Cheenikai - Yellow pumpkin(grated): 2 bowls
Jaggery : 1 bowl (grated or cut into small pieces)
Rice Rava(Akki rave): 1.5 bowl
Coconut grating: 1 bowl
Cashew & raisin: 15-20 in number (optional)
cardamom for taste, pinch of salt.

Method:
If you don't get to buy rice rava in the store, then you can grind rice into small pieces (size of medium rava) and use it. Roast the rava in a pan for 2 minutes until it turns slightly brown. Keep it aside for 20-30 mins.

Mix all the above ingredients well with the roasted rava with a spatula or in hand :) . While mixing you need not add water. If at all you want, add very little - a sip or two. Just to spice up the dish and give better taste, I thought of adding some cashews. So, add roasted cashew and raisin to the mix. After mixing it thoroughly, keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.

Then, use the idli plates and fill the plates with the mix. Boil it in the idli cooker(similar to how you make idli). Serve hot with ghee.

This is one of Adarsh's sweets and he loves it for breakfast. Anything that is healthy, anything that has vegetables - he is sure to love it :)