Learn how to make Kodubale ~ Deep fried rice and roasted gram savoury rings from Karnataka
As I stand here in my kitchen mixing the ingredients, beating the dough, stirring the kadai full thick rice paste to make Kadubu that is surely going to give me sore arms after mixing for hours, I can’t help but slowly walk down the memory lane... Ganesha Habba is one big festival of my childhood and life that spells magic and inundates me with nostalgia...
Crunchy deep fried goodness ~ Kodubale
A kaleidoscope of images, people, colours, people, family, friends and happiness flashes in my mind as I think of the birthday celebration of elephant headed Hindu god Ganesha! The memories of my sister and I perched on top of my Appa’s muscled arms as went to see tall Ganesha idols in many pandals are as fresh as the morning dew on pink lotus petals! I can feel the silky texture of Jhari Langa and Daavani with beautiful bold motifs weaved in gold silk thread brushing my ankles. I can still hear the soft rhythmic jingle of my beautiful silver anklets as I danced with my siblings, cousins and friends to the music of beating drums and saxophone played by the musicians. I can still smell the heady aroma of Mangalore jasmine adorning my hair, hundreds of sandalwood incense sticks burning, the camphor in the diyas and the sweet cardamom and jaggary in the neivedyam served in little squares of plantain leaves to thousands of devotees!
Spices used in making Kodubale
The preparations for the festivals would begin at least a week before as the men in the family went to the market with little kids jumping around their knees like excited monkeys, looking for that perfect idol of Ganesha. Once home we kids were put in charge of decorating the century old beautifully carved sandalwood mantapa with colourful paper and glittering gold and silver foiled streamers, banana plants, flowers and such things. The atmosphere was electrified with excitement, laughter, and pure happiness as everyone got busy with the task assigned to them. The sound of armful of glass and gold bangles, jingle of silver anklets, and the steady conversation of gossiping women folks in the kitchen added more excitement to the air as we dreamed of plateful of delicious goodies churned one after the other! One can never forget the taste of modaka, kadubu, karjikai, chakkuli, holige, unde, panchakajjaya, kodubale, nippattu, payasa and many more delicacies that Ajji, Amma and dozens of aunts cooked tirelessly for God, family, friends and endless stream of guests who came visiting! Ahh... The nostalgia...
Kodubale
The memories of celebration and the taste of delicacies till lingers in the corner of my mind as I roll the dough to make Kodubale for my small family here away from family and friends... Thousands of miles away from all the celebrations at our home with the ones who matter the most! ~sigh~
Crispy and Crunchy Kodubale
This year I am making an extra effort to celebrate the every special Hindu festival that was the big part of my childhood! It is not really for religious purpose as I see myself as a spiritual being than religious one! My reason for celebrating is to introduce Lil Dumpling to his roots; culture and traditions which are part of his life. This year we are going to make our own Ganesha idol, decorate the small mantap fit for Lil Dumpling’s friendly god, cook a lot of delicacies and have loads of fun! I hope few decades later Lil Dumpling will have few fond memories of his own that made his childhood a happy one...just like his Amma and Appa!
Roasted gram or Hurikadale for Kodubale
The picture of my childhood celebrating the Gowri Ganesha Habba becomes little hazy as I watch my Lil Dumpling roll different shaped dough balls sitting on the counter top close to me. We sing, laugh and make mess as we cook different shaped Kodubale for the festival. Lil Dumpling is amused to see round bangles of rolled out cigars as I gently lift them and place them in a pan of hot oil. He asks me dozens of questions as I deep fry them and one of the questions is why they are called Kodubale?! I explain him they are probably called Kodubales because of their shape as Kodu means horns and BaLe means bangles/bracelets in Kannada! As I answer to all his questions one by one, I travel back to the time of my childhood and asking similar questions to my Amma and Ajji! The circle of life moves on as we create fond memories for the future....
Kodubale
Kodubale one of the most popular snacks from Karnataka. It is made using rice flour and ground roasted gram powder and deep fried. The soft dough is rolled like long cigars of ¼ inch pencil thick and then shaped like a bangle by pressing the ends to shape like little horns. I find Kodubale very additive and it is never easy to stop munching them after tasting one! Kodubale is mildly spicy and has very nice crunch to it. There are many recipes and this one from my Amma works just right for me as I like them to be crisp on the out and soft, melt in mouth kind of texture within when we bite into them. Lil Dumpling helped me in rolling long cigars and shaping them and it was the perfect way to spend our evening! Why not try this delicious Kodubale for this Ganesha Chaturthi for your family and friends and spread some happiness?! :)
Ingredients for Kodubale
Dry ingredients for Kodubale
Mixture for dough
Dough ready for rolling and shaping
Kodubale is rolled and shaped before deep frying
Kodubale after deep frying
Kodubale (Deep fried rice and roasted gram savoury rings from Karnataka)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: Around 30 mins
Recipe Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Spice Level: Low to Medium
Makes: Around 25-30
Shelf Life: 10-14 days at room temperature when stored in an air tight jar
Serving Suggestion: As a snack with cup of coffee or tea
Ingredients:
1½ cups Rice Flour
¾ cup Hurikadale/Roasted Gram or 1/3 cup Roasted Gram Powder
¼ cup Maida/Plain Flour
2 tbsp Fine Sooji/Semolina (Optional)
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust as per taste)
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida
1 tbsp Butter/Margarine/Oil
2-3 springs of Curry Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for Deep Frying
Kodubale
Method:
- Grind the roasted gram into fine powder and keep it aside until needed.
- In a large mixing bowl add rice flour, ground roasted gram powder, plain flour, fine semolina, chilli powder, hing, chopped curry leaves and salt to taste. Mix them well.
- Melt the butter or margarine or heat a tbsp of oil and add to the rice flour mixture. Mix them with fingers till it is incorperated.
- Next start adding water in small batches to form soft pliable dough. Make sure that you add very little water at time. Keep the dough aside covered with cling film for half an hour.
- Heat the oil for deep frying in a pan or kadai at medium flame.
- While the oil is heating, pinch large marble sized dough and roll them into ¼ inch thick and of 2-2½ inch long cigars. Apply gentle pressure while rolling out to make sure that the cigars smooth and do not break.
- Join the ends and press them together to make a circle or pear shaped ones as shown in the photographs above.
- Gently drop them into hot oil in batches of 6-8 depending on the size of the kadai used for deep frying and deep fry them on medium flame till they turn golden brown on both the sides. It took me around 4-5 minutes per batch.
- Remove from pan and place them on a plate lined with kitchen towel to remove excess oil.
- Repeat the steps 6 to 9 until you finish frying all the Kodubale. Let them cool down to room temperature before storing them in an air tight container.
- Serve these delicious and crunchy Kodubale with a cup of hot coffee or tea and enjoy!
Kodubale ~ Deep fried savoury rice rings
Sia’s Notes:
- You need to deep fry the Kodubale immediately after rolling them and shaping them or else they will dry up and crack when deep frying. So it is best to make them in batches of 6-8 and immediately deep fry them. Cover the rest of the dough when deep frying to prevent it from drying out.
- The thinner the Kodubale, the crunchier they will be. So if you prefer crunchier Kodubale, roll them into cigars of pencil thickness.
- If you prefer crunchier Kodubale, heat the oil at high flame and carefully drop the Kodubale into the pan. Let it cook on medium to high flame till it floats up the surface. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook it until it turns golden brown. After removing the batch, increase the heat to high and repeat the step to get nice and crunchy Kodubale.
- You can also add about 1 tsp white sesame while making the dough.
- You can also add about ¼ cup of powdered dry kopra or desiccated coconut in place of fine semolina for flavour when making the dough.
- To make it glutten-free, skip the semolina in the recipe.
