South Indian Dessert – Ulunthankali Recipe From Tamil Nadu With Multiple Health Benefits

On a recent trip to Yercaud, a hill getaway near Salem, I made a quick stop at JoJo Momos. This new quick-service dining destination gets quite creative with momos – they even toss momos into pastas. But it wasn’t their core offering that caught my attention. I spotted a dish traditionally associated with wellness on their dessert menu. Ulundhu is the Tamil word for black dal or Urad dal while kali refers to a lumpy dish. Ulunthankali is a dish that combines two key ingredients – black dal and palm jaggery (karupatti). But the version I tried was quite different from the black, sticky consistency – very similar textures to the ragi (finger millet) mudde (balls) in Karnataka.[Read more]