Sukhiyan - batter fried, sweet green gram balls

Sukhiyan is a very popular tea-time snack of Kerala. It had been a while since I had had them, and I had never made them before. Green gram, which is used for the stuffing is something that I do make on a regular basis.. so last time I made the cherupayar (green gram) mezhukkupiratti, I cooked the green gram without adding any turmeric or chilli powder,with just a pinch of salt and saved half for the sukhiyans.

Cooked green gram - 1 and 1/2 cups
Jaggery (powdered)- 1/4 cup (add more if you wish)
Ghee - 1 tsp
water - 1 tbsp
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

In a thick bottom pan, add the water, when it is hot, add the jaggery and melt it, once it boils, add the ghee and then the cooked green gram. when the jaggery is well-coated on the green gram, add the grated coconut and finally, the cardamom powder.

Wait a while till the mixture cools down. Now roll it into lemon-sized balls.

Make a dipping batter with 1 cup maida (plain flour)and water. the consistency should be just thick enough to coat, but not runny. (Mine was a bit thin)

In a wok, heat about 2 inches of oil, and when the oil is hot, coat each of the balls in batter and fry. When the coating is golden brown, they are done. Serve hot.

As you can see from my picture, the batter needs to be a bit thick and coat the stuffing well. Otherwise, when you fry, the batter becomes translucent and the filling is visible. But it tasted really good :)