MANGALOREAN HEALTHY RICE & CUCUMBER CAKE / MANGALOREAN TEKKARAE ADAI

Tekkarae Adai is a traditional Mangalorean breakfast, but actually speaking you can have it any time of the day. It is very dense as there is no leavening agent ... so the texture is not very soft. In Goa it is known as Mandas. In Mangalore every community prepares it and every household has a different version of it. Mandas is sweet in taste. You can also call it cucumber & rice cake. It is made by grinding rice, cucumber, coconut and adding jaggery to the batter then steaming it. You can even bake it if you want. Here I have cooked it in a heavy bottomed nonstick pot on a very slow flame. My mum would make this for us when we were kids.
Traditionally it was steamed on banana leaf or in a plate directly. You can also steam cook in a pressure cooker. Soaked rice is blended with cucumber, coconut and jaggery to a paste. The batter is then poured into a pan smeared generously with ghee and kept on very slow fire. The sweet dish would then be ready for tea time it really is a simply, delicious and nutritious snack – best eaten  for breakfast.
Dense in texture, this cake is sweet and ideal/perfect for breakfast or evening tea. Be generous with the ghee which provides all the moisture it needs.

Ingredients :

250 gms parboiled rice
2 cucumber
200 gms jaggery
1 cup grated fresh coconut
pinch of salt
4 green cardamoms (powdered)
1/2 cup ghee

Method :

1. Wash the rice and soak it for 3-4 hours.
2. Wash and peel the cucumbers, scoop out the seeds if any and then chop into small cubes. Grind the chopped cucumber & grated coconut to a fine paste. Next add the jaggery and grind further.Keep aside.
3. Now blend the soaked rice with a pinch of salt and grind to a fine rawa like grainy texture. Do not use water. The consistency of the batter should be thick. Add the cardamom powder along with the cucumber, coconut, jaggery mixture. Finally add the ghee and pulse till well mixed.
4. Grease the non stick pot with ghee and pour the batter and let cook on a slow flame. Cover with a glass lid.
5. It may take around an hour to cook completely... prick with a toothpick or knife..if it comes out clean then it is cooked.
6. When cool cut into desired shape and serve.

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