Kali is a super healthy native pudding made by roasting and grinding urad dal, raw rice to a fine powder and cooking it with palm jaggery syrup, gingelly oil. Kali called as Ulundhangali in Tamil helps to strengthen bones and tune metabolism for growing kids. Kali is a must for the family once in a fortnight for morning breakfast. Learn to make Ulundhu Kali with the help of step by step pictures and video.
Ulundhu Kali has a lot of health benefits and is mainly given to girl children when they attain puberty. As my neighbor always says its good not only during the puberty stage but to start giving from the age of 10.This is very good to strengthen the bones so its very good for all women to have it at least twice a month.
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About Ulundu Kali
Ulundhu Kali is a traditional and popular South Indian pudding made using urad dal, raw rice, gingelly oil and palm jaggery. Ulundu is Urad dal which helps to strengthen bones and this kali is advised to be given to girls / women during their menstruation.
During childhood days I used to hate all kali, koozh varieties but now I am soo loving all of it. Years back I wanted to try this ulundhu kali or ulunthangali recipe but didn’t have the exact measures as amma used to eyeball all the measurements. Then I checked her cook book measures and tried it. Ever since this has become our staple, I always have a batch of kali maavu in hand.
We use a special wooden laddle called ‘thudppu’ for all kali varieties. This thuduppu is very special as its from my great grandmother to amma and now it has passed on to me. This is made of teakwood and amma had kept it new for me as she had another bigger one which she uses regularly.
Ulundu Kali Video
Black urad dal variety is the one with skin and white urad dal is without skin. To enjoy the full health benefits I would suggest to use whole black urad dal with skin.
This is the traditional way kali is served. Make a ball slightly flatten it then make a dent in the center, pour gingelly oil and serve hot! Tastes yum and just melts in your mouth. I usually add sweetener along with the mix and cook it but you can skip while cooking and even add it at the side while serving too.
Eating ulundu kali
- Helps to strengthen bones
- Reduces hormonal imbalance
- Prevents backpain
- Helps to maintain iron level
- Prevents fatigue, anemia etc
Ulundu Kali Ingredients
- Whole black urad dal – Choose whole black urad dal which is best for making ulundu kali. Urad dal without skin can also be used but this is more nutritious. It is rich in protein and calcium.
- Raw rice – Raw rice is used for more taste. You can skip it too.
- Palm jaggery – I have used palm jaggery for sweetener, you can use jaggery too. It is rich in iron so good to include.
- Gingelly oil (Sesame oil) – Gingelly oil has a lot of health benefits and tastes great with kali. However you can use other cooking oil too.
Similar Recipes
How to make Ulundhu Kali Step by Step
1.Dry roast 1/2 cup urad dal in low flame for 5 minutes at least. You will get nice aroma, stop at this time, do not over roast. Transfer to a plate and cool down.
2.Now add 1 teaspoon raw rice and dry roast until slightly golden, it will be puffy as shown. Transfer to a plate.
3.Cool down completely.
4.Transfer to a mixer jar.
5.Grind it to a fine powder. Transfer to a fine sieve.
6. Sieve it well using a fine holed sieve. You can grind the remains again and then sieve again.
7.See how fine the urad dal powder is, Set aside.
8.To a pan add 1/3 cup palm jaggery add 1/4 cup water to it.
9.Heat it up to melt. Switch off.
10.Switch off.Strain the syrup using a strainer to a heavy bottomed kadai.
11.Add 1 cup water.
12.Add sieved urad dal powder.
14.Whisk well to form a lump free mixture. If the mixture has lumps then make sure to mix well, use your hands if needed to break the lumps.
15.Now switch on and keep the kadai on the stove. Start stirring in low flame.
16.Keep in low flame and keep stirring continuously. It will start to thicken. Keep stirring.
17.When its thick like shown here start adding oil.
18.Add 1 tablespoon gingelly oil at a time.
19.Drizzle it from the sides so that sticking will be less at the sides too. Keep stirring. When it starts to stick add oil and keep cooking. In total you may need around 3 tablespoon gingelly oil.
20.At one stage it will become less sticky and leaves the sides of the kadai.
21.Wet your finger and touch and see, it should not stick. This is the correct stage now switch off.
22.When you roll, it rolls like this without sticking.
23.Make a ball flatten it slightly and serve with gingelly oil or ghee. Traditionally a dent is made in the middle, oil is poured and served.
Serve hot or warm!
Expert Tips
- You can use urad dal without skin (white one) too but this is more healthy as its with skin.
- You can use 1/3 cup – 1/2 cup palm jaggery adjust according to sweetness you prefer.
- Do not hesitate to add oil, gingelly oil is good for health so add generously only then you will get less sticky halwa like in consistency.
- You can use half palm jaggery and half of jaggery too.
- You can add cardamom powder if you want for flavor.
- Gingelly oil is best, however you can use cooking oil too.
Serving and Storage
Kali is served with gingelly oil. I would recommend consuming it hot or warm as when it cools down it becomes thick and dry.
FAQS
1.Adding raw rice is mandatory?
Yes adding raw rice makes the kali less sticky and adds more taste to the kali. However you can skip it too.
2.What can I replace gingelly oil with?
You can replace gingelly oil with regular cooking oil like groundnut oil or refined oil. But to enjoy the full health benefits use gingelly oil.
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📖 Recipe Card
Kali Recipe | Ulundhu Kali Recipe | Ulunthankali Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup black urad dal with skin
- 1 teaspoon raw rice
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoon gingelly oil
To make syrup
- 1/3 cup palm jaggery
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Dry roast 1/2 cup urad dal in low flame for 5 minutes at least. You will get nice aroma, stop at this time. Transfer to a plate and cool down.
- Now add 1 teaspoon raw rice and dry roast until golden, it will be puffy as shown. Transfer to a plate.
- Cool down completely.
- Transfer to a mixer jar.
- Grind it to a fine powder. Transfer to a fine sieve.
- Sieve it well using a fine holed sieve. You can grind the remains again and then sieve again.
- See how fine the urad dal powder is, Set aside.
- To a pan add 1/3 cup palm jaggery add 1/4 cup water to it.
- Heat it up to melt. Switch off.
- Switch off.Strain the syrup using a strainer to a heavy bottomed kadai.
- Add 1 cup water.
- Add sieved urad dal powder.
- Whisk well to form a lump free mixture. If the mixture has lumps then make sure to mix well, use your hands if needed to break the lumps.
- Now switch on and keep the kadai on the stove. Start stirring in low flame.
- Keep in low flame and keep stirring continuously. It will start to thicken. Keep stirring.
- When its thick like shown here start adding oil.
- Add 1 tablespoon gingelly oil at a time.
- Drizzle it from the sides so that sticking will be less at the sides too. Keep stirring. When it starts to stick add oil and keep cooking. In total you may need around 3 tablespoon oil.
- At one stage it will become less sticky and leaves the sides of the kadai.
- Wet your finger and touch and see, it should not stick. This is the correct stage now switch off.
- When you roll, it rolls like this without sticking.
- Make a ball flatten it slightly and serve with gingelly oil or ghee. Traditionally an indent is made in the middle, oil is poured and served.
- Serve hot or warm!
Video
Notes
- You can use urad dal without skin (white one) too but this is more healthy as its with skin.
- You can use 1/3 cup – 1/2 cup palm jaggery adjust according to sweetness.
- Do not hesitate to add oil, gingelly oil is good for health so add generously only then you will non sticky halwa like in consistency.
- You can use half palm jaggery and half of jaggery too.
- You can add cardamom powder if you want for flavor but we like it without it.
- Gingelly oil is best, am not sure of any replacements for it.
Kitchen Kathukutty
Super yum it looks. This is our family’s favorite and we have been including it in our diet every two weeks since we were young. It is getting done in our kitchen too now 🙂
M ANURADHA
wow…
அட்டகாசமான ரெசிபி ..கண்டிப்பாக செய்து பார்க்க வேண்டும்
Dhivya
How to keep the left over??? In fridge ???
Sharmilee J
Have it fresh…I would recommend storing.Incase if you want to store keeps well in room temperature itself for a day if you have added the right amount of oil.
Vdgas
healthy receipe and its t same way like my mom prepares.
Tejaswi
Hi, can pregnant women eat this?
Also, can you please share some recipes that are healthy for pregnant women.
Thanks!
Sharmilee J
yes you can eat it