Korukattas for Ganesh Chathurthi

Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated on Thursday.
We are not religious but festivals are a good time to make food associated with a particular festival.
In Tamil Nadu where my husband hails from, for Ganesh Chaturthi, Sundal and Korukattas are made. We decided to make korukattas and masala vadas instead of sundal.

Korukattas are simple to make. The rice flour is readily available in the store. One needs to make a soft dough with hot water and take small portions of the dough and flatten it out as thin as possible on ones palm.
The filling grated coconut and jaggery with a little bit of powdered cardamom for flavour.
A tablespoon of the filling goes into each flattened disc of rice dough. 

I used Tupperware dumpling moulds so it was quick work.Perfect half moon korukattas with a decorative edge. Smeared a smidgen of oil on the inside of the mould to keep the rice dough from sticking to the mould. Did the same with the steamer containers.

Ten minutes in the steamer and the korukattas were ready to eat. Don't you love my bright red steamer? Also a Tupperware product. I got to steam sixteen korukattas in the two trays of the steamer.

 Made a total of forty eight korukattas I think. Shared with friends who enjoyed them.

Menu for lunch was Sambar with shallots,steamed rice, ghee, potato fry, masala vada, korukattas, papadam and brinjal pickle.

Starting from Ganesh Chathurthi this year I'm going to try out a traditional recipe for each festival and try and see how many Tupperware products I get to use in the process.

So Tupperware products used in the preparation of Korukattas were

1. Tupperware steamer 2. Tupperware dumpling mould 3.Magic flow - oil dispenser 

4.MM Round #1 - small air tight container in which I store spices 4.Hot case to keep the korukattas hot.

Another thing to discover are the stories and folklore related to the dishes and ingredients used. Indian mythology is entwined with everyday living and especially when it's a festival.  There are times those stories or reasons have been forgotten or have morphed into something different. Then are regional differences. Should make some interesting discoveries.

My reading into the coconut filling is that elephants like coconut and therefore for Ganesh, the elephant headed god, korukattas are made. Another interesting thing is that korukattas are made only in the peninsula part of India, because coconut is a staple in the cuisine of the southern states. In fact a  lady from the north who has travelled extensively hadn't tasted or heard of korukattas before yesterday. 

Here's what I found.Please leave a comment if you know any other stories why korukattas and sundal are prepared for Ganesh Chathurthi. I'd like to know.