Meena's Taste Mantra

Vella Seedai | Sweet Seedai - delectable SouthIndian Sweet! A Gokulashtami Special Recipe!

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!

Vella Seedai is one delicious sweet. This is a must for Gokulashtami. Amma makes sometimes these instead of Nai Appam during Karthigai Deepam too! I love this and given an option between this and Nai Appam, I will gladly settle for Vella Seedai. The way Amma makes are just like how Ammama used to make - crisp to bite but soft inside! There is another way to make these Vella Sedais - fully crunchy, but we prefer it the way Amma makes!

INGREDIENTS

4 cup Homemade Rice Flour

1 tsp Homemade Urad Dal Flour

250 gm Vellam | Gur | Jaggery
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp Black Til | Sesame Seeds, dry roasted

3 tblsp Fresh Coconut, sliced and diced

1 tblsp + 1/2 tsp Homemade Ghee | Clarified Butter

Cooking Oil, for deep frying

METHOD

In a non stick pan warm the homemade rice flour slightly. Ensure the colour does not change. Keep aside.
In a deep kadhai, melt gur with water and prepare a thick syrup. The gas must be switched off when the syrup is just about to come to 1 string consistency. At this stage the syrup will be thick and bubbly. Keep aside to get to luke warm.pan, heat 1 tblsp ghee and fry coconut bits to golden brown colour. Keep aside the pan.
Add homemade urad dal flour, homemade rice flour, dry roasted black til and fried coconut bits along with the ghee in the pan to the gur syrup.
With a ladle mix to form a a cohesive dough. Keep aside overnight.
Next day, grease fingers with 1 tsp ghee and knead dough to get soft roti like dough. In case dough appears stiff, sprinkle very little warm water and knead till you get soft dough.

Make amla | gooseberry size equal portions of dough and keep on plate.

Place oil in flat surfaced kadhai to heat on high flame. Oil should be just enough for Vella Seedai to be fully covered, not much.
To check if the oil is of the right temperature, drop a bit of the dough into the oil. If it floats with bubbles coming out, the oil is perfect for frying. Reduce flame to low.
Gently flatten one portion of dough and slide it into the oil. You can add 4 to 5 Vella Seedai at one go, just ensure they are covered by oil.

After a minute, you will observe Vella Seedai begin to puff up. Gently flip and repeat occasionally so that they cook from all sides.

Vella Seedai must be crisp to bite yet soft and properly cooked from within. As the colour changes to a lovely golden brown 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 Vella 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. Parimal Rice

2. 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.