BANGALORE
FOOD
Kodubale
This is one of the widely known snacks of Karnataka, perhaps also
popular in other parts of South India. It is fairly easy to prepare,
but needs some initial patience and effort. A trial on a week-end
is suggested. KODU means Horn (like that of a cow) and BALE means
Bangle.
Ingredients
Rice
flour (slightly coarse, gives more crispy touch)
Red chili powder
Jeera (cumin seeds)
Hing (asafetida)
Grated coconut
Dried & crushed curry leaves
White sesame seeds
Butter
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
Proportion is for 500 gms of rice flour, put in a handful of each
of the other ingredients (except chili powder, ooh, just a table
spoon of that would do).
Method
Mix
the rice flour, red chili powder, salt, butter (one quarter piece
of the commercially available pack), and all the above ingredients
in the dry form.
Knead with hand to ensure that butter gets uniformly mixed in the
dry flour.
At this stage some people prefer to put 1 or 2 red chilies in hot
oil, take out after 1 minute, cool, powdered by hand and mix with
the dry flour. This gives a traditional flavor to KODUBALE.
Also, freshly grated coconut gives a much better taste than the
dry coconut powder available in stores.
If using fresh coconut, save the coconut water, to mix the dough.
This enhances the taste.
Frying
procedure : The proper method is not to mix water to the flour all
at once, but to sprinkle, enough to make a handful of wet dough
at a time, finish that and proceed again.
So, mix water to a portion of the dough (preferably at the centre),
mix it to a semi-wet paste (not as wet as a chappathi/bread dough
- remember - rice flour does not have the stickiness of wheat and
stays together more loosely, held by ingredients).
Take a lemon sized ball and start rolling on a cutting board.
The consistency should be sufficient to roll, but not too wet/soggy.
If the water is less, the rolled rod breaks. If this happens, add
a little water (coconut water if you have).
Remember, do not put too much pressure on the semi-wet dough, but
gently roll to form a smooth natural rod, rolling sideways to get
an even
thickness of about the small finger on your hand.
When the rolled rod becomes 4 inches long, slowly turn around the
ends, join them to form a circle (like a bangle). The correct consistency
is that at the points of bending, small cracks may appear, but the
roll will not break.
Carefully hold it at the circumference and slide it alongthe Pan-edge
into hot oil.
Use medium flame to heat the Pan (BaNale or Kadayi).
Sunflower oil is preferable to others since it does not have any
odour of its own. The popular medium is unrefined groundnut oil.
Put in 5 to 6 Kodubale at a time and deep fry slowly till brown.
Use the back of stainless steel spoon or a wooden rod to lift them
thro' the centre hole.
To test consistency, break one after cooling; it must be crispy
with crumbs at the center.
If the butter is too much, the KODUBALE breaks into pieces after
getting into the hot oil.
If the water is too much, the KODUBALE becomes smooth and soft.
Lack of butter makes it pretty hard, which, many people do like.
Adjust your proportion, Khara (chili powder) etc by tasting one,
then
proceed with the further batches. It can be kept in bottles for
15 days to a month and eaten at tea time (all the time - for kids
:-), as experienced people will tell you). The right thing to have
on a rainy day; if it is a little on the hotter side (taste-wise)
it will go very well with beer :-)
KODUBALE, KODUBALE, KAASIGONDU KODUBALE (Kodubale - for a penny
each) is a song of the good-old times. May not be as cheap now,
but still is sold in all the bakeries - isn't it :-)
Tip
: The secret however is to use 1/4th of the rice four (one cup of
rice
flour and 1/4 the cup of) kadalepoppu roasted and ground in dry
grinder.
You should also use 1-4 teaspoons of butter or oil, a pinch of baking
soda, and salt.
Also, red chilies roasted in a drop of oil and powdered coarsely.
Mix every thing with water and roll and fry. I bet you know what
to do after this!
(Courtesy:
K. Raghunandana)
