Aval Pori Urundai /Puffed Rice Balls

Festival Savouries / Sweets 37 comments

Aval Pori Urundai /Puffed Rice Balls / Murmura Ladoo – a traditional ‘neiveidhyam’ dish prepared on the festive occasion of Karthigai Deepam. Sweets made with jaggery is part of rich Indian cultural heritage and is often prepared on special occasions. This sweet is prepared by melting the jaggery to form a syrup with rolling ball consistency, mixed with puffed rice and shaped into balls. A crunchy bite of this Aval Pori Urundai tastes heavenly and is a festive treat to your palate.

Happy Karthigai Deepam to all my subscribers / viewers.

Cooking Time: 12 – 15 minutes

Yield: 5 -6 medium size pori urundai

Ingredients:

  • Aval pori / Puffed rice – 1 1/2 cups
  • Jaggery – 1/2 cup
  • Cardamom powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Dry ginger powder – 1/4 th teaspoon
  • Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Step by Step Instructions:

  • Heat a pan, add the aval pori to the pan and saute them in low to medium flame until they turn crisp. Do not saute the aval pori until they turn brown. Just heat it until it turns crisp. This will ensure that the pori urundai stays crisp. Transfer it to a plate.
  • To get the rolling ball ( Uruttu padam) consistency of jaggery – In a pan, add 1 teaspoon ghee. Add 1/2 cup jaggery. Keep the flame low and allow the jaggery to melt. Using a spatula, keep stirring the jaggery mixture. In the meanwhile, keep a small bowl with water ready to test the consistency of the jaggery syrup. When the jaggery mixture turns thick and syrupy, take a little bit of the thick syrup using a spoon and drop it in the bowl containing water. The jaggery should not dissolve in water. If it dissolves, then heat the jaggery for more time. If the jaggery settles at the bottom, then try to gather the small piece of mixture from the water and make a small ball. You should be able to make a small, soft yet firm ball. This is the right consistency (rolling ball/ uruttu padam) of the jaggery syrup to make pori urundai/ puffed rice balls. If you are successful at this stage, switch off the stove and pour the jaggery immediately onto the aval pori. It might take 1 -2 minutes to get the right consistency of the jaggery.
  • To the plate containing aval pori and the jaggery syrup, add cardamom powder and dry ginger powder. Mix the contents well with a spatula until all the aval pori is coated with jaggery. This should be done quickly as the shaping of aval pori mixture into balls could be done only when the mixture is warm enough.
  • Shaping the aval pori/ jaggery mixture into balls – Take a small portion of the aval pori-jaggery mixture and shape into medium size round balls. Tighten it using both palms so that pori urundai doesn’t have cracks and stays in shape. Repeat the same step for the rest of the mixture. Allow the pori urundai to cool down.
  • Store the Aval Pori Urundai in an airtight container. The aval pori urundai stays fresh for a week.

Notes:

  • Make sure that the jaggery syrup reaches the rolling ball consistency.
  • While shaping the balls, if the balls are not holding onto the shape, then the jaggery syrup is not in the right consistency. You might have switched off the stove early.
  • While shaping the pori urundai, if the mixture cools down, then the aval pori might harden. If the aval pori hardens too much, then shaping the aval pori into round balls might be difficult. Microwave the mixture or slightly warm the mixture on the stove until it loosens.
  • Use good quality jaggery preferably organic jaggery to make pori urundai.
  • To make the jaggery syrup – Instead of heating the jaggery in a teaspoon of ghee, you can also add 1/4 th cup water and boil it to get the rolling ball consistency.

Check out my other recipes with Aval Pori / Puffed Rice:

37 comments

  8. It always surprises me so much, that India despite it’s diverse culinary culture, some food like this is quite universal. In our childhood days mom used to make murir naaroo (we call it so). We enjoyed them very much. Thanks Sowmya for bringing back old memories. Your Aval Pori Urundai is great!❤
    Happy Kartheegai Deepam to you!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks Mousumi for your detailed comment. Totally agree with you. India has a diverse culture and there are lots to learn from different states. Glad that my blogpost kindles some good old memories.

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