Malabar Chemmeen Unda

Some snacks feel familiar the first time you eat them – not because you’ve had that exact dish before, but because they echo something from another place, another plate. Chemmeen Unda, with its soft rice dough shell and spicy prawn filling, is one of those. It’s part of Malabar, deeply so, but also quietly connected to every culture that ever wrapped a surprise inside dough and steamed it with care.

If you look closely, Chemmeen Unda has distant cousins across the world – the sweet kozhukatta made during Vinayaka Chathurthi, with jaggery and coconut tucked inside a rice shell; the Tibetan or Nepali momo, filled with meat and folded by hand; even modaks, dumplings, and Middle Eastern kuboos share the same principle: take something humble, fill it with something special, and seal it in.

But Chemmeen Unda is unmistakably Malabar. The filling tells you that instantly – prawns kissed with chili, turmeric, coconut, and the warm hit of fennel and curry leaves. There’s a smoky richness to it, a kind of quiet fire that’s balanced by the neutral comfort of the rice flour dough. It’s not fried, not crispy – just soft, steamed, and satisfying in that very coastal, very Kerala kind of way.

It belongs to that rich Malabar tradition where snacks weren’t just short eats – they were real cooking. Time was taken, masalas were roasted slowly, textures were considered. And even when the snack looked simple from the outside, the inside always held layers – of taste, of tradition, of home. Chemmeen Unda is part of that legacy – where snacks came not from shortcuts, but from instinct and inherited memory.

Even today, it holds its place alongside pathiri, mutta surka, unnakaya, and kozhi ada. Simple-looking things, maybe – but packed with the kind of flavour and warmth that reminds you why Malabar’s snack culture is not just one of the richest in Kerala, but one of the most quietly beautiful in all of South India.

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Malabar Chemmeen Unda

Author: Ushadevi Cooking Method: Steaming Cuisine: Kerala Courses: Appetizers, Dinner, Snacks

Difficulty: Intermediate Prep Time 20 mins Cook Time 15 mins Total Time 35 mins

Servings: 6

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Ingredients

Scale

1/2x 1x 2x 3x

• 1 cup Prawn (cleaned)
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon. Chilly powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoon Ginger-garlic paste
• 3 Onion (chopped)
• 3 Green Chillies (chopped)
• ³⁄₄ cup Grated Coconut
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon Fennel powder
• 1 spring Curry Leaves
• 2 cup Rice-flour
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon Cumin

Instructions

1. Clean the fresh prawns thoroughly.
2. Marinate 1 cup of prawns with half teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder, and enough salt. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawns until 70% cooked. Remove from the pan and chop them into small pieces.
4. In the same oil used to fry the prawns (add more oil if needed), sauté 2 teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste.
5. When the raw smell disappears, add chopped onions, chopped green chilies, and some salt. Sauté well.
6. Add the chopped prawns to the masala and cook until the prawns are fully done.
7. Add grated coconut to the mix and combine everything well.
8. Add fennel powder and curry leaves to the mixture. Cook for a few more minutes and set aside.
9. In a bowl, take 2 cups of rice flour. Add enough salt and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds. Mix thoroughly.
10. Pour hot water slowly over the flour and combine using a ladle, ensuring the flour is fully moistened.
11. When it cools enough to handle, knead the mixture into a soft, smooth dough.
12. Take a small portion of the dough, shape it into a small bowl using your fingers, and fill it with the prawn masala.
13. Seal the edges and roll it into a smooth ball.
14. Steam the filled dumplings for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked.
15. That’s it — Malabar Chemmeen Unda or Prawn Dumplings are ready to enjoy.