Vella Seedai ( Sweet Seedai)
- Rice Flour 2 cups
- Uluthamaavu (Urad Dal flour) 1/4 cup
- Grated coconut or thin slivers of coconut pieces – 1 table spoon
- Grated Jaggery 1 cup
- Cardamom powder – a pinch
- none Sesame seeds –2 teaspoons
- Butter 50 to 100 gms ( to taste)
- Dry roast the rice flour in a tava. (till it just changes to golden brown) . Remove from the heat and sift using a fine sieve. Set this aside.
- Grate or mash the jaggery till it is almost broken into small pieces. Add a cup of warm water and set it aside to dissolve into a thick syrup.
1. Using a strainer, strain the jaggery syrup to remove dusts and debris.
2. Heat in a low flame this jaggery syrup in the same tava. Add cardamom powder. The consistency is very important. Do not overheat. (to test the consistency take a small drop of the hot syrup and drop into a cup of water. The syrup should neither dissolve nor thicken into a ball.)
3. Add the sesame seeds and the coconut. Remove from heat. Add the sieved flours (rice flour and urad flour) a little by little and very slowly turning the dough with a ladle. Add the butter , mix and knead with your hands after it is cool enough.
4. Set this aside for at least 30 min. ( ( this can be done one day previous and stored for frying the next day too)
5. Take a small chunk of the dough and using a greased palm, roll it out into small balls onto a clean cloth or a paper towel.
6. Deep fry the rolled balls (seedai) a few at a time turning them constantly. Fry to deep brown.
7. Remove from oil and drop them onto vessel lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Note: Well done seedais tend to have cracks on the surfaces.
If they totally come apart in the oil, the proportion could have gone wrong. Even the quality of the ingredients or the consistency of the syrup could be a cause.