Kummayam is a traditional sweet prepared with roasted urad dal, moong dal and rice, powder and cooked with Jaggery, sesame oil and ghee. This sweet has an halwa like texture with glossy finish. Let's see how to make this Chettinad special sweet with step by step pictures and short video.
Tamil families make this during the month of Aadi which is why people call it Aadi kummayam. It is very healthy dish you can make anytime of the year.
Check out my Ulutham Kali Recipe and Chettinad special Kandarappam recipe in this website.
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About Kummayam
Kummayam is a traditional sweet from Chettinad kitchens, where cooks pair urad dal, sesame oil and palm jaggery/ jaggery for their nourishing qualities. It is prepared mainly during the Tamil month Aadi. You can also make this anytime you want a rich, traditional jaggery based sweet without refined sugar.
I love how much flavor this sweet builds from roasted lentil. Kummayam gets its deep caramel notes and nutty aroma from patient roasting, sesame oil. Combine both jaggery and karupatti for extra richness. I had only jaggery only this time so use it.
Many families give this to young women when they reach their puberty. This sweet is nourishing, with its high iron and protein content which support growth and strength during this stage of physical development.
Why this recipe works?
- Gives you soft, melt in mouth texture
- No complicated steps
- Uses unrefined sweetening ingredients
- High in nutrition from lentils, jaggery and sesame oil.
Kummayam Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make kummayam.
- Urad dal - I used whole urad dal. (Whole Black lentils without skin)
- Moong dal - Adds a wonderful nutty flavour and deep aroma.
- Rice - For thickening and binding, adds body.
- Jaggery - For sweetening. If you have karupatti (palm jaggery) you can use it too half the amount.
- Ghee - For its goodness, flavour, richness
- Sesame oil - Traditional fat, keeps the texture smooth
- Cardamom - For flavor
See recipe card below for quantities.
Instructions
Lets see how to make aadi kummayam.
- To start with, heat a pan, roast urad dal in medium heat until golden brown in colour.
- Remove in a plate to cool down.
- Then, in low flame, roast rice until golden and remove from heat for cooling.
- Same way, roast moong dal till golden brown, remove for cooling.
- Once cooled completely.
- Powder it very finely in a mixie. Sieve if needed, make sure to wipe down the sides and powder to a flour.
- In a saucepan, heat jaggery with 2.5 cups of water.
- Just until the jaggery melts, not need to boil or any consistency.
- Filter it and keep aside until use.
- Take the powdered kummayam flour in a pan or kadai.
- Then, add the jaggery dissolved water to it as you stir with a whisk slowly.
- Add jaggery water only part by part as you mix, do not add all at one go.
- After you add all the water and dissolve without any large lumps, start heating.
- Keep stirring as at the bottom, it will be getting stuck as well as start cooking and form lumps.
- In low-medium flame, keep stirring. Now there will be cooked batter looking like lumps, do not worry, as it thickens fully it will eventually dissapear.
- Once thick like a paste, mash any lumps you see and keep mixing. By now it will be almost cooked too.
- Add sesame oil in two parts.
- Mix to incorporate.
- Lastly add ghee. It will leave out the pan and follow the ladle as a mass. If you touch with slightly moist fingers, it would not stick. This is the stage.
- Switch off the stove and Kummayam is ready.
Aadi kummayam tastes and keeps good best same day as it has moong dal So make small quantity and finish it off. Mom says such urad dal jaggery sweet is good to have monthly once for a healthy period without cramps.
Substitutions & Variations
If you have karupatti, you can use ½ cup karupatti and ½ cup jaggery for this recipe.
Moong dal ratio : You can increase it or totally omit it too. But traditional recipe has it.
Use only either ghee or sesame oil.
Add a pinch of salt for balancing the taste.
A pinch of dry ginger for warmth.
For a rich presentation, you can add roasted cashews towards end.
Storage
Best when consumed same day as this preparation has moong dal and no syrup consistency is achieved. You can refrigerate leftovers upto 2 days. The texture becomes bit dry. Gently reheat to soften.
Kummayam flour can be premade and stored in air tight container for 3 months.
Top Tip
Roast all the ingredients separately, patiently for a flavorful result. Otherwise the taste and flavor can be raw.
Grind flour as fine as possible. If needed, sieve for smooth texture.
Filter jaggery to remove any impurities in it.
My notes
I suggest to make Kummayam flour and store, then prepare small portions of kummayam from it. In this way you can finish it off then and there.
FAQ
I realized it is mostly similar, just the regional difference. Ulundhu kali is just urad dal and little rice, while kummayam has moong dal in it.
Troubleshooting
Kummayam forms lumps when cooking.
I prefer to add jaggery water, warm, not too hot to the flour rather than adding flour to a hot jaggery water or syrup. First mix using a whisk until a thick paste, then gradually add the water in portions and loosen it each time before adding the next portion.
While heating, the mixture gets cooked and thickens randomly, which will eventually become homogeneous when the entire kummayam is thickened as it gets cooked.
Recipe card
Kummayam Recipe | Aadi Kummayam | Traditional Chettinad sweet
Equipments (Amazon Affiliate links)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Urad dal
- 2 tablespoon Moong dal
- 2 tablespoon Rice
- 1 Cardamom
- 1 cup Jaggery I used less, see note 1
- 3 tablespoon Ghee
- ¼ cup Sesame oil
- 2.5 cups Water
- 1 pinch Salt optional
Instructions
- To start with, heat a pan, roast urad dal in medium heat until golden brown in colour.
- Remove in a plate to cool down.
- Then, in low flame, roast rice until golden and remove from heat for cooling.
- Same way, roast moong dal till golden brown, remove for cooling.
- Once cooled completely, powder it very finely in a mixie.
- Sieve if needed, make sure to wipe down the sides and powder to a flour.
- In a saucepan, heat jaggery with 2.5 cups of water.
- Just until the jaggery melts, not need to boil or any consistency.
- Filter it and keep aside until use.
- Take the powdered kummayam flour in a pan or kadai.
- Then, add the jaggery dissolved water to it as you stir with a whisk slowly.
- Add jaggery water only part by part as you mix, do not add all at one go.
- After you add all the water and dissolve without any large lumps, start heating.
- Keep stirring as at the bottom, it will be getting stuck as well as start cooking and form lumps.
- In low-medium flame, keep stirring. Now there will be cooked batter looking like lumps, do not worry, as it thickens fully it will eventually dissapear.
- Once thick like a paste, mash any lumps you see and keep mixing. By now it will be almost cooked too.
- Add sesame oil and stir to incorporate.
- Lastly add ghee and mix.
- It will leave out the pan and follow the ladle as a mass. If you touch with slightly moist fingers, it would not stick. This is the stage.
- Switch off the stove and Kummayam is ready.
Video
Notes
- Note 1: I used only half the amount of jaggery mentioned, it was mild in sweet as I like to keep it that way. If you are sweet toothed, use 1 cup jaggery for this recipe.
- While heating, the mixture gets cooked and thickens randomly, which will eventually become homogeneous when the entire kummayam is thickened as it gets cooked.
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