Cream of Rice to make Rice Upma(Arisi Upma)and Steamed Dumpling(Kozhukattai)

Today is the final day for this week of Blogging Marathon #18 and today's post is how to make the rice rawa for upma  and kozhukattai.
Arisi upma is a breakfast or dinner item served along with the coconut chutney or brinjal kothsu.For this upma the rice needs to be processed and broken into rawa and used.The rawa can be prepared in ahead and stored.
My grandmother used a stone processor to break the rice and she uses only rice.One of my friend's grand mom uses toor dhal or moong dhal along with the rice and the upma is very tasty.Since then I also added dhal along with rice.
If you spend 20-30 minutes in the kitchen with your blender or food processor the rawa will be ready.It is very handy to make upma in a lazy day or kozhukattai as a evening snack for the kids.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Raw rice/Paccharisi	3cups
Toor Dhal/thuvaram paruppu	1/2cup

Method 

• Rinse the rice and dhal 2-3 times and soak it with enough water for an hour.After an hour drain the water completely and spread it on a cotton towel or cloth.Let it dry for an hour,it should be damp.
• Take the rice and dhal mixture in a blender or food processor and pulse to the rawa consistency.Once everything is done dry the broken rice and dhal mixture under the shade or sunlight till it gets completely dried.
• After drying completely sieve it in a fine strainer so that the powdered one will be separated and store the rice rawa in an air tight container.

• The soaking time should be exactly an hour only,if it soaks for a long time it get powdered.
• The drying time for the soaked rice is also very important,it should be damp enough to get a perfect coarse rawa.
• The broken rice can be sun dried or dried under the shade,sometimes in winter I dry it in the oven.Pre-heat the oven for 200F for 5 minutes and put off.Then spread the rawa in a aluminum tray and keep it inside.
• There won't be any moisture in the rawa while storing and this can be stored in the normal temperature for 3 months.
• As we like the coarse one,I made it little bit grainy,it depends on personal preference.

Check the Blogging Marathon for the fellow bloggers participate in Blogging Marathon#18.