Meena's Taste Mantra

Gokulashtami is yet another festival where delicious savouries and sweets are made to celebrate the birth of Shree Krishna! Amma loves to make these naivedhyams and after puja, distribute to as many as possible. The goodies are much awaited by family and friends!

Uppu Seedai is one delicious snack. Easy to make, with just one aspect that may be a bit tedious, rolling out the dough to form as far as possible uniform shaped small cherry like balls! I recall that this was the first ever recipe that Amma used to assign us as kids. She will portion out small bits of dough on a plate and we all used to sit down around a clean cotton cloth | towel spread and with our palms greased with coconut oil try our best to make awesome Uppu Seedai! Many a time Appa too would help in this process. This year Appa volunteered to do this since I was busy shooting him make these for the benefit of you all!

The combination of coconut, black pepper, jeera and kadhi patta, is what gives Uppu Seedai its unique taste profile. Simply YUM!

INGREDIENTS

2 cup Homemade Rice Flour

1/4 cup Homemade Urad Dal Flour

1 1/2 tblsp Homemade Butter

1/2 pea size Hing | Asafoetida Compounded

1 tsp Hot Water

1/2 tsp Salt

Water to knead dough

Coconut Oil, for making Uppu Seedai

Cooking Oil, for deep frying

To grind

1/2 cup Fresh Coconut, grated

1/2 tsp Jeera | Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp Kali Miri | Black Pepper

1 tblsp Kadhi Patta | Curry Leaves, finely chopped

THE MAKING OF UPPU SEEDAI

METHOD

To grind

Grind to a smooth paste all the ingredients mentioned under "To grind". Keep aside.

In a small bowl soak compounded hing in hot water. Do this in advance, so that hing gets completely dissolved.
In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients along with ground paste, except oil and knead a smooth dough, adding water in stages. The dough must be very smooth, else there are chances of the Uppu Seedai bursting as we add them in the oil.
The dough must be as soft as the Roti dough.

Spread a clean cotton cloth on a flat surface. Ensure there is no fan overhead, as the dough will dry out.
Make cherry like equal portions of the dough and place them on a plate.
Greasing fingers and palms with coconut oil, gently roll one such portion to make a smooth surfaced ball and place them on a clean towel. In the similar manner, smearing coconut oil, as and when required to grease, roll the remaining portions. Appa has done a fabulous job by making pretty smooth surfaced Uppu Seedai!

Place the oil for deep frying in a deep bottomed thick kadhai. Keep the flame on high. As the oil gets to the right temperature, gently transfer Uppu Seedai from the towel to a plate.
To check if the oil is of the right temperature, gently roll in one Uppu Seedai into the oil. If it floats with bubbles coming out, the oil is perfect for frying.
Gently roll over a plate of Uppu Seedai into the oil. Stand a bit away from the hot oil and be careful, as sometimes the Uppu Seedai may splash. Number of Uppu Seedai in one batch depends upon the size of the kadhai and the quantum of oil used. Just ensure they do not crowd up in the kadhai and there is sufficient oil.

Slowly with a slotted ladle, flip Uppu Seedai to ensure they do not stick with one another. The oil will be like a froth foam at this stage.
After 5 minutes, gently flip them again.

By now, the colour would be changing from pale green to a darker brown and the froth disappearing.
As you stir Uppu Seedai with the slotted ladle, you will hear the crisp sound. That is the signal that they are crisp and done. Still, take out one, with help of a kitchen towel, smash to see if they are cooked within too. If its crisp from within and the colour lighter than the surface, Uppu Seedai is done.

Gently with the help of slotted ladle, remove from the oil and place them on a colander so that any excess oil can drain off.
In the similar manner, deep fry the remaining batches of Uppu Seedai.

Once they come to room temperature, store them in air tight container. These can last up to a month, provided stocks last till then.

We have used:

1. IR 8 Raw Rice

2. LG Compounded Hing

3. Tata Salt Lite

4. Parachute Coconut Oil

5. Sundrop Heart Oil

About C R Meena

(c) 2014 - 2016, Meena's Taste Mantra is the result of my ardent desire to share my recipes, with all who appreciate and celebrate food. These recipes are as a result of 60 years of cooking experience, influenced by tradition and exposure to various concepts, new recipes/ingredients and a passion for cooking - adapting to healthier alternatives.