Patholi/Steamed Rice Crepes in Turmeric Leaves - Goan Recipe

Goan's Christians prepare prepare Patholis in turmeric leaves on 15th August for Our Lady of Assumption Feast. The non christians make these for festivlas like Narli Poornima, Ganapati they call it Patolya/Haldichya Panachi Patolya.
Patholis are sweet, rice crepes steamed in turmeric leaves with coconut jaggery filling.

The turmeric leaves are also called haldi paan impart their heavenly fragrance and flavor to the Patholi. These leaves are from my garden.

The sweet coconut filling makes these absolutely delicious. If you do not have turmeric leaves then you can use banana leaves. I made both. The leaves are then peeled off on after steaming and the patholis are had hot with desi ghee on top which is optional. Patholis are also called Haldi Panna Patholi in Konkani. They are usually served had as a dessert for breakfast or as an evening snack.

Do use you Idli Rice and the poha, because, I. have made them many times and this recipe is the best the covering is soft and mouth melting. You can increase the sugar jaggery in this if you want it more sweet, but, for us these were perfect!

Makes 8 to 10
Ingredients
8 - 10 Turmeric leaves / Haldi Paan - or as required
For The Batter
1 Cup Idli Rice - I used Idli Rawa
2 Tablespoons Poha/Flattened Rice Flakes
Salt to taste
For The Coconut filling
1 Cup Packed Freshly Grated Coconut
1/3 Cup Packed Grated Jaggery - I used organic
½ Teaspoon Freshly Ground Cardamom powder
A Pinch of Salt

Method
For The Batter

Wash and soak rawa for an hour and half ( for rice soak it for 3 -4 hours). Drain all the water and grind it in a small jar in batches so that not much water is required while grinding to a fine paste, add the poha, salt to taste and using very little water grind it to a fine thick paste. Keep this a side. If your batter gets watery, it will flow off the turmeric leaves.
In the meantime let's make the filling
In a pan add the jaggery, salt and coconut and cook on low flame till the jaggery melts and moisture evaporates, it filling should be moist and soft so do not cook it too much, 3- 4 minutes and its done on medium low flame. Add the cardamon powder mix well. Keep aside to cool.

Wash the turmeric leaves carefully, drain all the water and wipe them dry using a cloth. Take care not to tear the turmeric leaves. Keep them aside.

If the turmeric leaves are longer than the size of your steamer then chop off the stem portion of the leaf or else its a hassle while placing the patholis inside the steamer for steaming.
If the behind stem is also thick then just trim it a little so that it folds nicely.
Making Patholis

On a clean working surface place a turmeric leaf and then place a small ladle of rice batter at one end of leaf. Spread it across the length of the leaf using your fingers or a spoon. Leave out the edges of the leaf to avoid spilling out of the batter when you press them closed. The rice batter should be applied as thin a layer as possible.

Place the inner filling mixture along the spine of the leaf, right in the center, in the middle of the leaf. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of the batter.

Fold the leaf vertically into half, along the spine. Continue this process until all the leaves/rice batter is used up.

Here they are ready!!

Cut them to fit the size of the steamer

Or else they will fold in it and will open while steaming.

The same way of made of banana leaf, Cut the leaves in big pieces

just heat on the gas for two to three seconds only, so that, banana leaves soften, thus

they become easy to fold and do not tear while folding.

Place a steamer with sufficient water on a high flame. When the water comes to boil, place the patholis inside the steamer. You can stack them up or place them evenly so that all of them get steamed evenly. Cover and steam for 15 minutes on a high flame.

Remove them from the steamer and serve them in the leaf itself. Each one will peel off the leaf and enjoy a hot Patholi, I made these for breakfast. These are also served as a dessert.