Nelli Pundi recipe

Ingredients:

Dosa Rice - 2 cups

Salt for taste

Cooking Oil - 2-3 tsps

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Coconut (grated) - 5 tsps

Red Chillies - 1 or 2

Onion - 1/2

Curry leaves - 4-5 - chop into small pieces

Sugar - 2 tsps

Procedure:

Soak Dosa rice in water for at least four hours. Grind rice along with salt; do not make it very watery. You can keep it fine or coarse.

Once you are done, heat little oil in a frying pan, add the batter to this pan. Mix the batter thoroughly. When the batter looks thick and smooth, rub little oil to your palms and start making small balls. 

P.S: You can avoid heating the batter in a pan. Instead you can grind the mixture thick and immediately make small balls and keep them in the idly vessel.
But I always suggest, you mix it thoroughly in a pan. This makes the surface smooth and soft.

Meanwhile, boil water in an idly vessel. Keep these balls in the idly vessel, insert the lid and let them cook. Let the flame be in medium. Wait for 15 minutes. To see if it's cooked, insert a knife randomly on these and check. If the knife comes out clean, these are cooked. If not, the under-cooked pundis will stick to the knife. 

Once they are cooked, heat oil in a pan and add all the items that are listed under Seasoning, except Coconut and Sugar. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cooked tiny pundis to the pan. Saute them well. Put off the flame, add coconut and sugar. 

Pundis are ready to be served. You can have this without chutney.