Nucchina Unde (or Nunde) is a steamed dumpling made with toor dal, chana dal and green gram dal. A traditional breakfast and snack recipe from Karnataka, India, it is normally served with coconut chutney or majjigehuli. In Kannada, Nucchu means broken bits and Unde means ball which translates to broken dal dumplings.
A few years back during my trip to Coorg I fell in love with the taste of this age-old dish, loaded with flavour and health.
A favourite of many for its taste, it is also healthy, gluten free, high on protein and packed with fiber!
- Times
- Description
- Image
- Ingredients
- Method
- Notes
- Nutrition
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- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- ½ cup toor dal
- ½ cup chana or gram dal
- ½ cup split green gram dal
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3-4 green chilies, finely chopped
- 1/2 inch ginger, finely chopped
- 6-7 curry leaves, chopped
- ½ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
- ¼ cup coconut, grated
- Pinch of hing (asafetida)
- Salt as per taste
SPICES
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp haldi (turmeric powder)
- ¼ tsp hing (asafetida)
Method
- 1)
Rinse and soak all the dals (lentils) for 4-5 hours.
- 2)
After soaking, drain the water and grind the dals into a coarse mixture without adding any water as the soaked dals already have sufficient water.
- 3)
Add all the ingredients mentioned above except coconut, haldi and hing to this mixture.
- 4)
Transfer the mixture to a big bowl. Add coconut, haldi, hing and salt.
- 5)
Mix the batter well so that it becomes fluffy and light. This ensures that the dumplings come out soft and spongy.n digestion.
- 6)
Now start making lemon sized dumplings using your palms.
- 7)
Meanwhile heat some water in a steamer.
- 8)
Arrange the dumplings in a greased plate leaving sufficient space between each dumpling so that they do not stick to each other.
- 9)
Once the water is hot, keep the plate in the steamer. You can also use an idli stand for this.
- 10)
Steam the dumplings for 15-20 minutes or till they are done.
- 11)
Insert a toothpick or knife to check whether Nunde are well cooked or not. If the toothpick comes out clean it means that they are well cooked and ready to be served.
Serve them hot with a dash of hot melted ghee with hing as it helps i
Notes
- While grinding add only 2-3 tablespoon of water if needed otherwise the batter will be runny and it would be difficult to make the dumplings. Consistency of the batter should be thick.
- You can store the mixture in the fridge for 4-5 days so whenever you want to make the Nunde, just take out the mixture and make your tasty dumplings!
- Do not keep the batter out for too long as it will go bad. The batter has salt and will release water.
