“Naivedyam : Uppu Seedai” … Seedai is a traditional dish from the southern parts of India prepared as Naivedyam on the auspicious occasion of Shri. Krishna Janmashtami (Ashtami/ Gokulashtami) festival … this special dish is made in both sweet and salted versions … sharing the Uppu Seedai (salt seedai), a deep fried snack with Rice and Black Gram Dal ... very similar snack to chakuli, which I am preparing after a long time …
** Uppu Seedai as I mentioned on the title is a traditional snack prepared during Krishna Janmashtami. I learned to prepare this one decades back when discussing food with one of my friends she casually mention of seedai which they prepare during the festival. On quering I found the mixture to be simialr to that of our chakuli, atleast which I prepare except that for seedai, coconut milk was not added, but some did add in a little bit of freshly grated oens.
** So the next time I prepared chakuli I fried a few as seedai and it turned out wonderful, after which I used to do the same, sort of 2 in 1 dishes. But as Chakuli was preferred to this one later on I stuck to the prior and completely forgot about seedai. Recently my friend asked me about the same and that was when I noted that I should prepare it again for the sake of blogging, but then surprisingly we liked it now, guess taste changes over years too.
** There are a few variations which I would also love to try out soon as now that my husband has liked this one, so do keep a look out for them here. As for this time it is the simple traditional version that I have prepared without making changes and offered the same at the lotus feed of Shri Krishna, seeking blessings for all. May he remove all the obstacles the world is facing and restore, peace, happiness, prosperity in each and every home.
** Sharing my simple Recipe for “Uppu Seedai” … My Style …
** Ingredients :
Rice Flour/ Tandla Pitti/ Chawal Ka Atta : 1 cup
Roasted Urad Dal Flour/ Udida Hurna : 3 tblsp
White Sesame Seeds/ Tilu/ Til : 2 tsp
Butter/ Loni : 1 tblsp
Coconut Milk/ Narla Rosu/ Nariyal ka Doodh : 2-3 tblsp
Asafoetida/ Hing : a small pinch
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** Refined Oil for deep frying the seedai.
** Rice Flour : You can either buy rice flour and use the same roasting it on medium heat for a few minutes or you can wash rice, drain well, spread on a cloth and allow to dry completely, roast it till crisp without changing color and then on cooling grind it to powder, sieve, collect it and store it and use as required which is what I do. You can store the excess in air tight box and use in preparing dishes like bhakri etc.
** For Uida Hurna : Hurna is actually obtained by roasted urad dal on medium heat to light color, cooled, ground to fine powder, sieved and then used. I always prepare it in bulk so that I can prepare other dishes using the same. It stores well in air tight container if proper care is taken for around 4-6 months, or for safety you can always put it in fridge. I am sharing a link at the bottom of this recipe, where I have written about the same in detail.
** For preparing the coconut milk : You can prepared coconut milk at home or buy readily available ones from store too. But there is nothing like preparing them fresh at home, the excess ones can be stored in the freezer and used over a few days period in preparing other dishes like kheer/ payasam etc. I am sharing a link at the bottom of this recipe, where in the same is given in detail.
** Roast white sesame seeds lightly till slightly color changes and keep it aside ready. You can micro wave the same for 2-3 minutes, which is what I do for most of the roasting methods. Take care and see that you do not overdo them or burn the same.
** Place a wide stainless steel bowl topped with a fine sieve. Add the rice flour, udida hurna, salt to taste, hing powder and sieve it all together into the bowl. There should be no lumps whatsoever, if so, discard them as they will burst while deep frying, so sieving is important.
** Add in the sesame seeds to the mixture and mix well. Add butter taking note that it is softened to room temperature and mix it well into the mixture in the bowl, then add in the coconut milk and combine all together to a crumbled mixture.
** Now add about ½ cup of water and mix the mixture well, then keep sprinkling water and knead the mixture into a smooth but firm dough. Take a little bit of mixture in hand and try making a small ball out it, it should not crack up much nor should be too smooth and soft.
** Note : You should not knead too much nor make them too smooth or tightly pressed ball, to avoid it cracking up when deep frying. Mom always says that sesame are added for the same purpose to avoid spluttering, as when rolling them there is bound to be some space between the sesame/ til and the mixture, making air pockets to avoid cracking up.
** Prepare and keep all the balls ready on a plate while at the same time you keep the kadai/ pan with plenty of oil for deep frying ready too. The above measurement gives about 24 nos of medium sized seedai, while if you prefer marble sized you will get about 32 nos. The size of seedai is a matter of individual preference.
** About Heat Temperature for Oil : Heat oil in a kadai/ pan to smoking point and then reduce the heat to medium, wait for a few minutes for the heat to settle. Drop a small pinch of the prepared dough into the oil, if it bounces back sizzling within a few seconds then the oil temperature is correct for frying. If it settles down you need to heat up a little and if the dough blacken immediately it means the heat in the oil is excess. This temperature adjustment is for all deep frying method, so once you learn about it, it is sort of forever, so keep it in mind always. Also note that for frying of snack the heat has to be constantly at the same level.
** Once the desired heat level of oil is obtained, add in the prepared seedai/ balls a few at a time depending upon the oil and the size of the kadai, I do not use too much oil and fry them in batches of say 2-3 and repeatedly heating left over oil is not good.
** Allow the seedai, once added into the pan to fry a little bit after which with a ringed spatula keep stirring it evenly to fry them to a golden brown all round perfectly. This frying does take some time and please do not hurry or raise the heat otherwise the seedai will get cooked from outside and will not get down within, so be careful and have patience.
** When done remove with the help of the spatula and place it over and absorbent paper for the excess oil to drain off. Continue with the remaining batches of the seedai prepared and kept following the same method as above. See to it that the heat is prefect before adding them on and do maintain a constant heat.
** Note : Here is an important tip to know that the frying ingredients like chakuli, tinglodu, seedai, chips are done. When you add them into the hot oil, they sizzle a lot making the surace filled with oil bubbles, slowly as the whichever snack you are prepared gets fried, they decrease in size and reach to a level when they sizzle very slowly, this indicates that they are done, at this point if you feel, they have not evenly browned, you can raise heat for a few minutes and fry them to perfection, and remove the same.
** “Uppu Seedai” is done and ready to be served as Naivedyam/ Prasadam at the lotus feed of God and there by distribute among family, friends or any devotees that are in and around during the pooja. It is always believed that Naivedyam should be distributed and relished as it pleases God very much and doubles up the blessings recieved. Though widely prepared during Shri Krishna Janmashtami festival in southern parts of India, you can prepare the same during other festivals too, if your family loves them. God is always pleased with whatever is offered with faith and love and does not distinguish amongst devottee by the richness of the food offered.
** You can check out the method of preparing “Coconut Milk/ Narla Rosu/ Nariyal ka Doodh” by following the link given below ….
** For the method of preparing “Udida Hurna/ Roasted Urad Dal Flour”, Please follow the link given below ….
** For the method of preparing “Chakuli/ Murukku or Tinglodu” a similar dish except for the shape, as it is made into spirals, you can check out the link given below …
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks.