38 KAAYI(COCONUT) OBBATTU / HOLIGE

Kaayi Obbattu / Holige - Thengai Boli ( Coconut and Jaggery Stuffed Sweet Flat Bread).


I have already mentioned about this obbattu in some of my posts and it is one of my favourite among all obbattus. Love the soft filling inside and the most important the shelf life of this obbattu is more than any other dhal obbattu. You can keep outside in normal temparature for 3 - 4 days and many days in a refrigerator. Long back when I was working in Bangalore my home town there was a store in Jayanagar which
was very close to my working place and me along with my friends used to get some packets and eat to satisfy ourselves.

Since I love this a lot, I always make sure that I get it freshly made at home and bring it back with me from my trip to India back to US. My mother will be busy with me in packing things and final shopping so my neighbour/tenant aunty does this for me.


For the outer cover:-

Fine sooji/ Rawa/Chiroti Rawa/ Semolina - 1 1/4 cup
Maida/ All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cup
Salt for taste
Turmeric powder - very little
Oil - 5 - 6 spoon

For the filling/poorna:-
Jaggery - 2 1/2 cups
Coconut( grated) - 2 1/2 cups
Cardamom powder - 2 pinch
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Additional :-
Poppy seeds - few tsp
Ghee for frying
Plastic sheets/banana leaf / holige paper for rolling/pressing


In a bow mix rawa and maida with salt and turmeric. Add water and oil and mix into a very soft dough. The consistency should be very loose than chapathi dough. When pressed it should just go very easily. Then comes the kneading part, the more you press with your fist and palm the more softer dough you get. So keep on doing this and add another spoon of oil and cover and keep aside. When tired give some time and
repeat the step. I remember my neighbour pound the dough in a stone mortal and hitting it with a pounding stone. This makes the dough very very soft and easy to roll and tastier to eat.

In a different vessel add jaggery and melt it with a cup of water and heat it till it just melts. Remove and strain the syrup and place back the syrup and heat it up. Add grated coconut( can use frozen coconut, first thaw and if the flakes are thick/big then run once in a mixer and remove) and keep on mixing until all the moisture has left and thick enough to hold in hands and make balls. Note once cool the mixture
does become lightly harder so keep this in mind. Add poppy seeds and cardamom powder. Allow it to cool.

First prepare balls for the cover and the filling: Note that the cover has to be slightly smaller than the filling(One round smaller than the filling that is the saying).




Apply oil to the rolling sheet. Take a ball for the outer layer and press and pull the corner ends. Note leave the middle part intact and it has to thicker inside. Place a ball of filling and cover the filling with the pulled layers so there is no gap. Add few pinches of poppy seeds on top and below the balls.

Start pressing with your fingers as thin as possible. Some tip keep pressing with one hand and with the other hand rotate the rolling sheet in opposite direction so that you r hands stay intact and it is pressed evenly. This way you get a perfect shape and a thin obbattu. An other way to roll is place another plastic sheet on top and with a rolling pin press as thin as possible.


Heat a tawa and place the rolled obbattu and cook on both sides till done and brown spots are visible.

Apply ghee on top.
Remove and serve.