Sooyan

Sooyan are bite-sized sweet balls popular throughout India. They’re often served at festivals, but they make a delicious midday snack that goes perfect with tea or coffee. This snack is not only delicious, it’s also great for vegans since it does not require milk. This recipe calls for urad dal, jaggery, and coconut. The grated coconut makes for a melt in your mouth type feeling while remaining flavorful and delicious. Packing this for your kid’s lunch? Make sure you pack them in an insulated lunch kit or in your kid’s lunch box.

Health Benefits

Urad dal or black gram is a type of lentil native to India. Lentils make up a large portion of the Indian diet, probably because of its high protein levels that make it a good meat substitute for vegetarians and vegans. Urad dal is very high in fiber also, and can improve digestion and constipation. It can generally treat any gastrointestinal issues that you may be suffering from. These lentils also improve bone mineral density due to the amount of calcium, phosphorous, iron, and potassium present in lentils.

Ingredients

cup rice: 1/2

cup urad dal: 1/2

cups channa dal—washed and soaked for 2 hours: 3

cups jaggery: 10 1/2

tsp cardamom powder: 2

tbsp cashew nuts: 2

cups freshly-grated coconut: 2

Oil for deep-frying

How To Make Sooyan

1. Grind soaked chana dal to a fine paste, pressure cook the paste, and let cool.
2. Crush cooked dal paste into smaller pieces and set aside.
3. Dissolve the jaggery in a pan with 3 cups of water. Once the jiggery dissolves, strain it to a colander to remove impurities and return to pan to heat.
4. Once a a one-thread consistency is achieved, and crushed pieces of cooked chana dal, grated coconut, and cardamom powder. Stir to combine, turn off the heat, and let cool
5. Make lemon-sized balls and set aside. This is the filling and we will call it pooranam.
6. Blitz rice and urad dal together to make a fine powder. Add water and make it into a thick batter.
7. Heat oil over medium heat. Dip the poornam balls into the batter and gently slip them into the oil, one by one.
   Note: Deep fry at least five at a time.
8. Drain and serve hot or cold with sugar on top. 

Trivia 

Over 20 billion coconuts are harvested annually.