Tella Burelu

Tella Burelu/ Stuffed moong dal bajji

Ingredients:

Maida/ All-purpose flour – ¾ cup

Moong dal/ Split green gram – 2 cups

Sugar – 2 cups

Coconut – 1 tbsp, finely grated

Green cardamom – 4, crushed into powder

Cashew nuts – 12, broken into small bits

Raisins – 30 to 40

Ghee/ Oil for deep frying

Salt as per taste

Idli cooker with idli stands

Instructions:

        Add split green gram into a bowl and rinse them well with water to get rid of any dirt or dust. Soak them in water for around 4 to 5 hours. Drain the water and grind it into smooth paste using a blender. There is no need to add extra water for grinding.

        Take an idli cooker and fill some water in it. Heat the water. Meanwhile, grease the wells of the idli stand with oil or ghee. Using a small ladle scoop out some batter and pour it in the greased well. Follow the same process until all the wells are filled with the batter. When the water starts to boil place these idli stands in the idli cooker one over the other. Cover the lid and cook under medium flame for 7 to 8 minutes. Switch OFF the flame and allow them to cool down.

TIP 1: If the batter doesn’t stick to your fingers or if the pierced toothpick comes out smoothly, it means that the idlis are cooked well.

        Add maida, salt into a bowl and mix well. Add some water and prepare lump free batter just like bonda batter. When you place your finger in the batter it should coat your finger evenly. Make sure that the batter is not runny. If so, add some more maida and prepare the batter with right consistency and keep aside.

        Take the cooled moong dal idlis and crush them into coarse powder using a blender (OR) tear them into smaller bits and collect them in a plate. If the idlis cool for longer they get harder. I prefer to tear them while they are still warm.

         Take a small pan and add some ghee into it. Heat the pan under medium flame. When the ghee starts to melt add broken cashew nuts and sauté until they slightly change the colour to brown. Now, add raisins and sauté until they puff up. Switch OFF the flame and set aside.

         Take a big container and add sugar, ¼ glass of water and heat it. Using a spoon mix the sugar and water by stirring. When all the sugar dissolves, add torn idli pieces, cardamom powder, grated coconut, roasted cashew nuts, raisins and mix well. Make sure that there are no lumps while mixing. When all the ingredients are mixed well it will have soft texture just like a dough. Take small portions of the sweet dough and bind them together to form a small ball by pressing them gently between your palm and fingers. Place these balls in a clean and dry plate. Follow the same process to make the sweet ping pong balls until all the dough is used up.

TIP 2: While making the balls grease your palm with ghee or oil in order to prevent the dough from sticking to your hand. 

        In a deep-frying pan add sufficient oil or ghee and heat it. When the oil/ ghee is hot enough reduce the flame to medium. Pick up the sweet ball and drop it in the maida batter. Dip it well so that the sweet ball is covered evenly on all sides. Gently pick up and drop it carefully in the hot oil. The oil starts to sizzle and the sweet ball floats up. Follow the same process and drop as many sweet balls as possible into the hot oil leaving some ample space between them for even frying. Flip them over to the other side and fry evenly. When the bubbles reduce, and the sweet balls start to have light brown spots it’s time to dish them out. Fry all the sweet balls in the same manner and set them aside on a clean and dry plate. You may also place them on a tissue paper to remove any excess oil or ghee. Serve them hot to enjoy every bite of this delicacy. 

TIP 3: These sweet balls can be stored in the fridge for a day or 2. Deep fry them in small batches based on your consumption and serve hot.

TIP 4: Serving them cold will make the burelu non crispy and hard to bite due to the usage of maida in their preparation.

        This dish is known as Tella Burelu in Telugu because of their color. Tella means white. Burelu means sweet stuffing. There are many varieties of Burelu most commonly prepared in Andhra Pradesh, India. They are mainly made during festivities. But this is a special one which I had never tried nor heard of. The crisp outer texture with a soft sweet filling on the inner side along with great taste of ghee just leaves you mesmerized. 

        My mom has made it today after a span of 35 years just because I asked her for traditional recipes that I am unaware of. There it is. Truly a sweet delicacy. I was filled with excitement while making this dish. No doubt! It came out well and tasted much better than the regular Tur dal burelu. Let us keep up the spirit and dig out the old delicacies before they are forgotten for ever. Today, I felt that my small initiative to cook and share the old recipes with others served its purpose. Please do try this out and let me know your opinion. 

        You may also request me for any other recipes that you are looking forward to. I am glad to acknowledge and share the videos with you all. As they say, learning never ends. Let’s be the building blocks to the budding chefs and keep our traditional recipes alive. Until then, stay tuned and do look out for many more hidden recipes in my you tube channel or blog. Happy cooking!