Bellam Chalimidi | Step by Step Recipe

Chalimidi is a traditional Andhra sweet dish made with freshly made rice flour and jaggery. It is traditionally made for festivals like Ram Navami and for baby showers.

It is an easy to make dish with few ingredients but needs a little patience with making the jaggery syrup to the right consistency. Give my foolproof recipe a try and you will be able to make the best chalimidi.

About the recipe

I have inherited a sweet tooth and a love to cook from my mom. I am trying to learn as many Andhra sweet dishes as I can from her. Some of my favorite Andhra sweets are poornam boorelu, bobbatlu and madatha kaaja. After all these years, I think I can definitely cook up some of these confidently now.

Chalimidi or salividi is a traditional Andhra sweet dish made during festivals and baby showers. It is offered as prasadam/ neivedhyam on Sri Rama Navami.

This is a heirloom recipe from my grandmother. She made this for my mom and my aunt every time they visited, even if it’s just for 2 days. That is a tradition that my ammamma started and my mom continues with her daughters.

This recipe needs only 3 main ingredients. But don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the ingredients. It requires a tiny bit of patience and practice to finesse this dish. When well made, it tastes much like palakova but with much less effort and time.

Ingredients

For the details of the exact quantities of each ingredient and the list of ingredients needed, check the printable recipe card below.

There are only 2 main ingredients in this chalimidi recipe along with a few other of flavoring ingredients. Here's what you need:

• Rice:
  • I use sona masoori rice. Any medium grain rice would work.
  • Basmati or jasmie rice will be too aromatic and won't work in the recipe.
  • Rice needs to soak overnight and ground to a fine powder. Then sieved to make fine rice flour.
  • Even though traditionally freshly made rice flour is used for this recipe, store bought rice flour can also be used. Check Expert Tips section for more details
• Jaggery - you can either use jaggery or powdered sugar. My mom uses jaggery, so that's what I do.

• Ground cardamom
• Ghee
• Coconut flakes or chips aka dry coconut slices
• Cashews - not traditional, but I like the nuttiness they add to the dish.

Instructions

For the detailed instructions on how to make the recipe with exact timings, check the printable recipe card below.

Here is how to make Chalimidi.

Combine rice and water is a mixing bowl. Soak rice or overnight. In the morning, drain the rice completely and spread it out on a kitchen towel to dry. Rice should not become very dry, it should be slightly damp.

Transfer the rice into a blender and grind into fine powder.

Use a fine sieve to make a very fine rice flour. If there are lot of coarse grains left in the sieve, then grind and sieve them again. You should have a very fine rice flour.

In a small pan melt ghee. Add coconut chips, cashews and cook until nicely toasted. Turn off the heat and set these aside until ready to use.

In a medium size saucepan, combine jaggery and water. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the syrup thickens and reaches soft ball stage. To test the consistency of the syrup - add a drop of hot syrup into a bowl of cold water. It should easily form a ball without dissolving in the water. It will flatten out when removed from the water.

Once the jaggery reaches the soft ball stage, turn off the heat and remove the pan from heat. Stir in the toasted coconut and cashews along with little bit more ghee. Stir in about ¼ cup of rice flour at a time and mix well after every addition.

You may not need all of the rice flour, so make sure to add it in small installments. Keep adding flour and stirring until it comes together into a chalimidi mudda or forms a non sticky ball. It should still be creamy like khova.

Divide the mixture to smaller pieces and place them in an airtight container. Let cool completely before covering with lid and storing.

Expert Tips

• Using homemade rice flour gives the best texture to the chalimidi. Store bought flour will be slightly dry and you won't get the same mouthfeel with it.
• But if you want to make chalimidi with store bought rice flour, then use slightly less of it. For ¾ cup jaggery, you will need about 1~1¼ cups of rice flour. This will ensure that the final texture is not too chalky.
• Sweetness of jaggery varies from batch to batch. So check the sweetness and use according to your taste preference.
• Consistency of the jaggery syrup is the crucial step in this recipe. This is not the time to check your phone, do not leave the side of simmering syrup.
• Keep a bowl of cold water next to the stove. Once the syrup starts to thicken, keep checking the consistency to make sure that soft ball stage as reached.
• To test the consistency of the syrup - add a drop of hot syrup into a bowl of cold water. It should easily form a ball without dissolving in the water. It will flatten out when removed from the water.
• You can also make chalimidi with granulated sugar. Follow the recipe as written including sugar syrup consistency is exactly the same.
• Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for 4~5 days at room temperature and up to 15 days in the fridge.
• Any leftover rice flour can be used to make these wheat rava dosa or wheat flour kuzhi paniyaram or murukku.

Variations

The salividi recipe might vary depending on the region it is made in.

• Pachi chalimidi:
  • this is probably the simplest, no-cook version. Combine store bought rice flour, grated jaggery (or powdered sugar), ghee, ground cardamom and just enough milk to make a thick sweet paste. That's it done. I make this version for festivals along with vadapappu panakam. This does not store for long.
  • Another version is to combine freshly made rice flour (according to the recipe given below) with powdered sugar, fresh grated coconut, cardamom and ghee. Add some milk, if needed, to make a thick mixture.
• Pakam Chalimidi: pakam means syrup, so the recipe below falls in that category.

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I love hearing from you!! If you’ve tried this and liked it, then don't forget to let me know. Give a star rating and let me know in the comments below. Also tag me in your creations on Instagram @cooks_hideout. I love sharing photos when people make my recipes. You can use the hashtag #cookshideout too.