When choosing recipes to make for the Christmas candy theme, I wanted to include one Indian candy. The recipe I made turned disastrous and I was looking for something that I could make at the last minute. That is when this recipe for Andi Unda was suggested to me by Priya Srinivasan while talking in a different context. This is more of an energy bar, a ladoo, but was thinking why it would not classify under candy. I asked my friends for their opinion and no one said anything against it. So, this Kerala Style Cashew Rice Ball is my new favorite energy ball candy that is perfect when you have a sweet tooth for a crunchy dessert.
What is special about this Andi Unda -
Kerala Style Cashew Rice Ball takes less than 15 minutes to make and has just 4 ingredients. Then we let it cool down and then grind it and make it into tight balls and that is it. There is no added fat in the mixture to bind. The cashews and the coconut have enough fat content in them to allow us to form a nice tight ball. I used organic brown sugar to make the Andi Unda. You could use jaggery as well but make sure you grate them before you blend everything together. There are a few recipes that suggest fresh coconut in the recipe. I used desiccated coconut as Priya suggested and it worked really well. If you are using fresh coconut, make sure to lightly roast it to get rid of the extra moisture before combining. I roasted my desiccated coconut a bit as well for that nutty taste. Coming to the Matta rice, I have been seeing this rice for a long time in our Indian store but was not sure how to use it. One of my friends here said that she regularly makes porridge with it. I asked her to bring me a little bit of Matta rice to taste before I bought a bag of it. So she bought me some yesterday and I asked my BM buddies for suggestions to use it. Priya suggested this Kerala Style Cashew Rice Ball and Aravanai Payasam. I reserved a little of the Matta rice to make the Aravanai payasam and used some to make this Ladoo.
Check out my few other Quick and Easy Ladoo recipes -
Policha ladoo Rava Ladoo Coconut Ladoo Preparation time - 10 minutesCooking time - 10 minutesDifficulty level - EasyRecipe adapted from - I Camp In My Kitchen
Ingredients to make Kerala Style Cashew Rice Ball - Makes about 15
Matta Rice / Kerala red rice - ½ cup Desiccated Coconut - 1 cup Cashew nut - 1 cup Jaggery / Organic Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Procedure to Make Andi Unda
In a heavy bottom pan, roast the red rice until aromatic and starts to change color. Make sure that the heat is medium-low as the rice could get burned easily without getting properly roasted.
Remove the roasted rice in a bowl and keep aside to cool.
In the same pan, add the cashews and roast them until light brown. Remove this in a separate bowl and keep aside to cool.
In the same pan, add the desiccated coconut and give it a quick stir to heat it up gently. Just fry it for about 30 seconds and remove it on a plate.
Grate the jaggery and measure it.
In a small mixer or a spice grinder, grind the cooled rice to a smooth powder. Remove this in the bowl.
In the same grinder, grind the cashews to powder them. Make sure that you just pulse it or else it will end up becoming cashew butter.
Now transfer the ground cashew, ground rice powder, desiccated coconut and jaggery in a large blender jar or food processor jar and pulse it to combine. You will notice that the fat content from the cashew and the coconut will make the mixture bind together.
Once everything is well combined, transfer it to a bowl and start forming tight balls with your palm. We will not need any ghee or fat to bind it.
Store in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days at room temperature and if storing further than that, refrigerate it.
More Kerala Recipes
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