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.
Malabar Chemmeen Unda
Ingredients
Instructions
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Chemmeen Unda or Prawns Dumplings is a typical Malabar delicacy. Its a must-try item for food lovers.
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First of all, we need the clean fresh Prawns.
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Next we will marinate 1 cup Prawn with half teaspoon Turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon Chilly powder and enough salt. Keep it for rest atlest 15 minutes
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Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawns at 70%, Next we will chop fried prawn to small pieces.
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Now we will prepare the masale for filling the dumplings. Using the same oil we used to fry prawn (add more oil if require) saute 2 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste.
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When the raw smell goes out, add chopped Onions, green chillies and some salt. Saute it well
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We will add chopped Prwan now . The prawn will cook completely on this masala.
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Add Grated Cococnut to the mix and combine well.
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Add Fennel powder and Curry leaves to the mix and cook for some more minutes. Thats it. Masala is ready
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Now, we will prepare the dough for the dumplings. Take two cups of Rice flour, add enough salt and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds. mix everything well.
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Pour hot water slowly and combine it with a ladle. Make sure hot water made the flour moist completely
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When the temperature reach at a level we can handle, kneed the flour mix to a soft dough.
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Take some dough, make a bowl shape with your finger. fill it with masala , seal it and roll it to a ball.
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We should steam these balls for atleast 15-20 minutes. Thats all . Malabar Chemmen unda or Prawn Dumplings are ready