Nel Pori Urundai is an authentic South Indian sweet delicacy, prepared during festive seasons especially Karthigai Deepam. It is also enjoyed as a quick snack by kids who love sweet treats. This puffed rice snack is specially made during Karthigai Deepam, offering the perfect balance of crunch and sweetness. These golden-colored balls go beyond tradition and heritage, holding a special place in our hearts for their simplicity.
Nel Pori Urundai is offered as prasadam during temple festivals and made at home during pooja. This dish contains no artificial ingredients or preservatives. It is made of puffed rice and golden jaggery, binding it together to bring out flavours of the simplest ingredients.
Jump to:
About Nel Pori Urundai
Nel Pori Urundai is a simple and humble dish that requires lots of patience and timing. Puffed rice (Nel Pori) is finely combined with jaggery syrup that is boiled to a thick consistency that is perfect enough to bind the ingredients. The jaggery syrup should not be hard. Once the syrup is ready, quickly mix the puffed rice and shape them into small balls with your hands before it cools down.
Nel Pori Urundai is similar to Pori Urundai except that the pori (puffed rice) is replaced with Nel Pori (puffed rice with bran). Nel Pori is commonly made during Karthigai Deepam festival in villages traditionally.
Back during my childhood days, I have never seen my ammama or amma making pori urundai at home for Karthigai Deepam. For us, Karthigai deepam was only about lighting lamps and bursting leftover crackers from Diwali. So when I first started blogging making pori urundai at home was fascinating for me, and felt proud when I got it right, also amma was all praises for me.
I have made Pori Urundai many times so now a bit confident with the consistency check. The consistency check is not that difficult, it comes just by practice. So I bought a pack of Nel Pori and made this Pori Urundai to post here.
You can check out Maa Vilakku Recipe and all the Karthigai Deepam Recipes that I posted a while back.
Nel Pori Urundai Ingredients
- Pori (puffed rice) – Use quality Nel Pori. Always clean the puffed rice and remove the husk.
- Jaggery – Use quality jaggery for best results. Strain the jaggery water before use. The color of your Urundai depends on the jaggery variety used.
- Ghee/ Oil – Grease your hands before you start making the balls.
- Cardamom powder – This is optional but adds immense flavor and aroma to the urundai.
Why this recipe works?
- Quick and Easy to Make
- No fancy tools needed
- Perfect Festive Sweet
- Kids-Approved
- Naturally Vegan & Gluten-Free
Similar Recipes
- Pori urundai recipe
- Karupatti pori urundai
- Chocolate pori urundai
- Karthigai aval pori
- Nel pori urundai
- More karthigai deepam recipes
How to make Nel Pori Urundai Step by Step
1.Measure jaggery, add it to a pan, add water and mix it well.
2.Heat it up for 2 minutes, let jaggery dissolve. Strain to remove impurities
3.Remove the nel(the husk) from the pori and clean it, Set aside.
4.Add the strained jaggery syrup to the pan and heat it up another time. Then add elachi powder and keep cooking in low flame. Keep a separate plate ready filled with little water. Take a drop of jaggery syrup and put it in water, it should stand firm as shown in pic below. However, it should not dissolve.
5.Now mix well, so that pori gets completely coated with the syrup. I added in 2 batches. Lastly, mix well so that the syrup coats the pori evenly.
6.After that, grease your palms with ghee or oil, roll them into tight balls taking care not to break the pori. Similarly repeat to finish.
If kept outside it will become soggy, therefore store in airtight container and enjoy.
Expert Tips
- Jaggery Consistency – Boil the jaggery till it turns into a syrup. Don’t make it too runny. It won’t bind. If the syrup is too hard, it will turn brittle.
- Mix Fast, Shape Faster – Once the jaggery and puffed rice are mixed, work quickly. Faster the better.
- Grease Your Hands – To avoid stickiness, apply a little ghee or water on your palms while rolling.
- Low Flame – Melt the jaggery on low flame to avoid burning and bitterness. Also while checking the consistency it is better to keep in low to medium flame.
- Flavor – Add a pinch of cardamom or dry ginger to enhance the flavor of Nel Pori Urundai.
- Small balls for Kids – Make smaller-sized balls for kids as they will love it.
Serving and Storage
This scrumptious Nel Pori Urundai is served as a festive snack during Karthigai Deepam. These balls are arranged beautifully on a traditional banana leaf or brass plate enhancing the festive mood.
Ensure the balls are completely cooled and store them in an airtight container to maintain the crunch and freshness. You can leave them at room temperature in a dry place for 5-7 days.
FAQS
1.Why are my urundais not binding properly?
Check the consistency before adding the Nel Pori. When the jaggery syrup doesn’t reach its right consistency, urundais might not bind and form a ball.
2.What type of pori to use?
You can either use aval pori as I have used here or nelpori too. This recipe can be used to make kadala mittai, pottukadalai urundai too. Regular pori that is used for snacks can be used, but Nel Pori is always preferred for its texture and traditional taste.
3.What type of jaggery to use?
You can use any jaggery variety either the powdered ones or the hard balls. Just crush jaggery with water to get it dissolved easily. We need hard ball consistency in jaggery syrup for pori urundai.
4.Can I make this in advance?
Absolutely! You can make these balls and store them in an airtight container for up to one week.
5.Pori hardens at the end – not able to shape into balls?
Just heat up the pan for the pori to loosen, gather using a spatula then you can shape them into balls.
If you have any more questions on making of this Nel Pori Urundai do mail me at sharmispassions@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest ,Youtube and Twitter .
Tried this Nel Pori Urundai? Do let me know how you liked it.Tag us on Instagram @sharmispassions and hash tag it on #sharmispassions.
📖 Recipe Card
Nel Pori Urundai Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/2 cups pori puffed rice
- 1/2 cup jaggery
- 1/4 cup water or little less It should be just for the level of jaggery to immerse
- 1 teaspoon ghee + to grease hands
- a generous pinch cardamom powder
Instructions
- Measure jaggery, add it to a pan, add water and mix it well.
- Heat it up for 2 mins,let jaggery dissolve. Strain to remove impurities.
- Remove the nel (the husk) from the pori and clean it, set aside.
- Add the strained jaggery syrup to the pan and heat it up another time.
- Then add cardamom powder and keep cooking in low flame. Keep a separate plate ready filled with little water. Take a drop of jaggery syrup and put it in water, it should stand firm. However, it should not dissolve.
- First it will form soft loose ball then forms a firm hard ball. It should not be loose (soft ball) when you roll it with your fingers. This is the consistency we need. So when this consistency is reached, add cardamom powder and ghee.
- Now mix well, so that pori gets completely coated with the syrup. I added in 2 batches. Lastly, mix well so that the syrup coats the pori evenly.
- After that, grease your palms with ghee or oil, roll them into tight balls taking care not to break the pori. Similarly repeat to finish. Enjoy Nel Pori Urundai!
Notes
- Jaggery Consistency – Boil the jaggery till it turns into a syrup. Don’t make it too runny. It won’t bind. If the syrup is too hard, it will turn brittle.
- Mix Fast, Shape Faster- Once the jaggery and puffed rice are mixed, work quickly. Faster the better.
- Grease Your Hands- To avoid stickiness, apply a little ghee or water on your palms while rolling.
- Low Flame but High Attention- Melt the jaggery on low flame to avoid burning and bitterness.
- Flavour enhancement- Add a pinch of cardamom or dry ginger to enhance the flavour of Nel Pori Urundai.
- Small balls for Kids- Make smaller-sized balls for kids.
Raks anand
Lovely pictures 🙂
GEETHA VIJI
WOWW… YUMMY…
Farin Ahmed
Like to have few.
Parasuraman s
Good Photography and vivid illustration….felt like .YTube..Video…Thanks…!!
Srivalli
Pictures have come out so well!..
AR
Followed your recipe and made pori urundai for the first time. Never felt that I was making for the first time. Brilliant step by step instructions. They came out so well. Could not taste yet as poojai is in the evening. Will update later. Thank you so much.
Anita
Amazing and thanks for sharing