Karkidakam special: Horse gram chammanthi

Chammanthi is as old as the Malayali. You can grind everything and anything at all into a fine ball which has no parallel when had along with another all-time favourite, the kanji. The Malayali palate naturally swerves to where chammanthi is served, be it anywhere in the country or abroad.

Guess where the word has its root? It stems from the Sanskrit word “sambhandhi” which in turn became “sammandhi” and then got corrupted to “chammanthi”.

Here’s a delicious ball of chammanthi that’s easy to make. The main ingredient is of course, horse gram, full of nutrients. Horse gram works best during the cold monsoon months. Easy on the stomach, its digestive properties are commendable.

Ingredients
50 g horse gram
Half a coconut
4 dry red chillies
Curry leaves
4 shallots
1 small piece ginger
2 garlic cloves
¼ tsp jaggery
Salt
¼ tsp powdered pepper
Tamarind as required
1 pinch asafoetida
1 tsp coconut oil

Preparation
Dry roast the horse gram till it turns a dull brown
All the other ingredients are also to be dry roasted
While roasting the coconut add some coconut oil
The mix should be free of water content
Grind all roasted the items in a mixer.
This yields a coarse mix which can be rolled into small or big balls.
This chammanthi is ideal with kanji and dosa.