Pola

    

                             Pola or proven rice cakes are very usual and of much importance to people in Malabar during Ramadan.I don't think there would be any family who won't know about Pola in Malabar region.Am not a big fan of Pola but still everyone here crave for Pola.Preparing the traditional pola is a bit tedious job and so people rarely dare to work on it.Shop bought ones does not give the authentic taste.                      My grandma(uppumma) was an expert in this dish.She was such a great cook that my mother too learned cooking from my grandma (father's mother).Hats off to her innovations and expertise in cooking.But grandma too left this world few years back.But uppumma,U were too special...I swear...Very loving and caring....mmmuaaahhh....
                     The traditional steps include fermenting of few substance in an earthen pot ie a mixture of coconut water and urad dal.And this fermenting may take 1 to 2 days.Later rice batter is poured into this pot with the older mixture and let to rise.But this is not as easy as we type.After all this hardship,it was based on luck how you get it done....But this recipe surely won't disappoint you.Its such an easy and quick recipe to substitute the traditional recipe with and for sure you would love it.
                   But traditional one has its own value in one way or the other....I value that.....Don't worry.I bet you would get the exact taste and softness in this Pola too provided that you keep the measurements right.
                  Sameera aama and Aysha dee,thanx for this recipe.....

 Ingredients

Makes 9 Polas,Preparation Time 10 Minutes,Fermenting time 3 hours,Cooking time 10 minutes for each batch.

For Pola

1 1/2 Cup White Rice/Pachari/Raw Rice

2 Tblspns Urad Dal( Black gram with skin removed,White lentil)

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 Cup Coconut Water (To get a consistency of dosa batter)

1/4 Tspn Salt

1 Tblspn Sugar

1/2 Heaped Tspn Yeast

For Dipping

Milk of 1 Coconut

4 Tblspoon of Sugar(or more)

 Bananas Sliced (optional)

Method

1. Wash and soak pachari/white rice and white lentils(black gram,urad dal) in water for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Drain the water by transferring in to a sieve.
3. Mix all the ingredients of pola and grind well to get a batter with a consistency of that of a dosa.
4. Keep it near a stove or a place where the batter gets some warmth.
5. After 3 hours,the batter is ready to be cooked,if it has risen well.
6. Take steel plates with the shape of the Polas(as shown in pic),ie plain steel plates with the sides a bit risen,rub it with vegetable oil and pour a laddle of the batter into it and steam it.
7. The polas gets cooked within 10 minutes or so.
8. Take out when done and leave it to cool so as to get it out of the mould easily.
9. Now for the dipping,add sugar to the coconut milk and if needed add in bananas and mush it up either with a ladle or with hands and mix each pola with little of the dipping and enjoyyyyy....

Note:

• Never stir the batter vigorously after proving,in a way that the bubbles break and the air in it escapes.Just give a small stir so that the mixture becomes even.
• Do not use the last ladle of pola as it wont rise to give the soft Pola.You may discard it.
• Similarly please do not add any water other than coconut water to it.
• If you want to prepare Pola the very next day also,do not discard the last ladle of batter.Preserve it and while preparing the fresh Pola batter(the second time),you may add stock of rice(rice soup) to soak and grind the rice instead of coconut water.This is an option just for the second time to mix with the first days left over.You can continue this each day by preserving a very little of the batter to mix up with the next day's batter.