Venna Undalu or Butter Balls

                                      

Happy Krishnashtami!
Krishnashtami is the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna. Krishna is very fond of butter. He is also called as 'Venna Donga'  or 'Butter Thief' as he used to steal butter from people's houses with his friends in his childhood. On Krishnashtami day,  many people offer butter or dishes that are prepared with butter to Krishna. I am going to share the Andhra style 'Venna Undalu' recipe which I  learnt  from an aunt in Vijayawada.The recipe is as follows...

 

What you need:

Butter-1 cup
Rice flour-2 cups, preferably home made, if not store bought (I used store bought)
Grated jaggery-1 cup-
Sugar-4 tablespoons

Cardamom powder- 1 teaspoon
Warm water-1 cup
Oil-for deep fry                                       

Preparation:

1. Mix rice flour and butter in a bowl into a soft dough using warm water. Keep the dough covered for half an hour.
2. Make small balls out of the dough and deep fry them until they turn light brown.
3. Mix jaggery and sugar in a thick bottomed vessel and heat on a medium flame. Once it melts, filter it into a bowl to remove the impurities. 
4. Transfer the filtered contents of the bowl back to the same vessel and boil it for 4-5 minutes. Lower the flame and check the syrup by adding 2-3 drops of syrup to a bowl of water. If the syrup forms into a soft ball, turn off the stove. Add the cardamom powder and the fried balls to the syrup and mix it well under a fan.
5. Continuously separate the balls to prevent them from sticking to each other. Once the coated syrup on the balls becomes dry, store them in an air tight container.

           Enjoy the cute and yummy butter balls..

Note: Fry the balls in oil on a low flame. They take time to cook on the inside.