Indori – A traditional Konkani dessert (Vegan + Gluten Free)

I made indori today. My husband and my children loved it so much that I decided to share the recipe with you. As I sit down to write these words, my mind flits back to the past and I am a little girl again, making indoris with my cousin, Rekha in our backyard. Only, we are making indoris not out of edible ingredients, and not to our mothers’ recipes, but with moist earth, our very own secret recipe! Using dry, empty coconut shells, we are busy seriously stuffing the shells with the wet mud, pressing it down flat with our palms and then slapping the shells upside down onto banana leaves. We then lift up the shells, leaving the perfect mud indoris on the leaves, both of us beaming in satisfaction.

Alas, our joy is not to last forever. Our mischievous big brothers delight in running over our precious indoris, scattering them in all directions, while my cousin and I scream in heartbreak to the accompaniment of their devilish laughter! With tears streaming down our cheeks and screaming and sobbing at the top of our lungs, we run to our mothers, complaining about our terrorizing brothers, only to find solace when either my mother or hers comforts us, making real, sweet, motherly indoris for us, calming our little hearts and filling our little bellies with sweetness!

Traditionally, indoris are made by roasting unpolished, red, parboiled rice and then crushing it in a large wooden mortar and pestle to fine powder. Melted jaggery and coconut is combined with the rice powder and the hot mixture is pressed into little brass or bronze moulds (gindal in Konkani), usually of one and a half inch diameter and half inch depth. Large quantities of indoris are made in minutes by the dextrous elder ladies and kids who sit around the mixture on grass mats spread out on the floor, sharing old wives’ tales and children’s stories, imparting age old culture and the joy of working together, in love, to the children. And now, it is time to wake up from my reveries and to get on with this beautiful recipe.

You will require a small round mould to make the indoris. You can use moulds of any shape so long as they are small in size. As I was having a mould of 2-inch diameter and 1-inch depth at hand, I was able to make 15 indoris with these measurements. If the moulds are smaller, you can make more indoris. Do cook and enjoy!

Print Recipe

Indori Yum

A delicious, traditional Konkani roasted rice, coconut and jaggery dessert. A filling, healthy, sweet snack.

Cuisine

Indian, Konkani

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

20 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 500 gm unpolished, parboiled rice (red matta rice)
• 400 gm jaggery (unrefined cane sugar)
• 6 pods cardamom
• 200 gm grated coconut
• 20 ml coconut oil (to grease the mould)
• 100 ml water

Cuisine Indian, Konkani Prep Time 1 hour Cook Time 20 minutes Servings people Ingredients 500 gm unpolished, parboiled rice (red matta rice) 400 gm jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) 6 pods cardamom 200 gm grated coconut 20 ml coconut oil (to grease the mould) 100 ml water

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Wash and drain the rice. Set a non-stick pan on high heat.
2. Tip in the rice and stir continuously for 20 minutes. You can see the rice popping as it gets roasted. Take care to stir thoroughly so that not a single grain gets burnt.
3. Switch off the heat. After switching off the heat, continue to stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the residual heat of the pan is dispersed.

   
4. As soon as the rice is cool, transfer the rice in batches to the dry grind jar of your food processor and grind to superfine powder.
5. Put the jaggery together with 100 ml of water into a small pan and set on low heat. Stir occasionally until it melts fully.
6. Sieve the melted jaggery into a wide, thick-bottomed pan and set aside.
7. Shell the cardamoms and crush the seeds to powder. Set aside.
8. Grease the indori mould with coconut oil.

To cook:

1. Put the pan containing the melted jaggery on high heat. Tip in the grated coconut and the powdered cardamom. Stir continuously and thoroughly for 5 minutes.
2. Now tip in the powdered rice. Lower the heat and stir well for 30 seconds.
3. Switch off the heat. Use a flat wooden ladle or wooden spatula to stuff the greased mould flat to the brim with the hot powder.
4. Now hold it upside down over a stainless steel plate and shake gently and quickly to release the perfectly formed indori.
5. Grease the mould lightly again and repeat the process quickly until all the hot powder is transformed to beautiful, delicious indoris. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

It is best to work fast, but calmly, before the hot powder loses its warmth and its ability to take the shape of the mould. If you are making indoris in larger quantities, make sure that you have someone to help out with the moulding. Serve warm or cool. When cool, store in airtight containers. Indoris will be soft to bite in when fresh and will get harder on the second day. They can be stored at room temperature for 3 days or can be kept in the refrigerator for weeks. To make the refrigerated ones softer, just warm them up in your microwave oven before serving.