For Janmashtami, it’s a tradition in Tamil Brahmin families to make uppu seedai. Uppu in Tamil means salt. There is no exact translation for seedai. Seedai is basically deep fried crisp balls made with rice flour and little urad dal ( black gram) flour.
Though the method of making this simple, probability of not getting it right is always there.
This is because there are many things that we have to careful about in making good seedai. It starts right from the preparation of the basic ingredient, rice flour.
I have been making this for Janmashtami for many years now. Still there is always an element of anxiety and excitement while making seedai. More so because we can’t even taste it before the pooja.
I have given the recipe in detail to make to easy for first timers and have added few tips too. Hope you all would like my recipe:)
Ingredients
Proceeded rice flour – 2 cups
Roasted urad dal flour – 4 tsps
Butter ( at room temperature) – 3 tbsps
Roasted Sesame seeds – 2 tsp
Grated coconut – 2 tbsps
Hing – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil required for deep frying
Methods
I have used store bought processed rice flour.
To home made processed rice flour
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Wash and soak the rice for 30 mins. Drain well and spread them over a thick kitchen towel and dry it under shade.
Grind the rice at home to make a powder or get it done in a flour mill. Sieve the ground flour before using it.
Dry roast the rice flour for few mins on a medium flame. Do not over roast it. The colour of the flour should not change.
If you are able to draw a line with the flour, it’s means that it’s done.
Sieve the flour again and let it cool.
To make roasted urad dal flour
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Dry roast urad dal till it turns golden. Cool and grind to a flour. Sieve the flour and use as required. For 4 tsps of flour, approximately 2 tbsps of urad dal will be required.
To make the dough for the seedai
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In a bowl, add the rice flour, urad dal flour, sesame seeds, hing, coconut, butter and salt to taste. Mix well with your fingers.
Add water little by little and knead to a soft and firm dough.
With the dough, make small balls of uniform size and let the it dry for 10-15mins( drying the balls prevents it from bursting while frying).
Do not try to make perfect balls. Just pinch the dough and roll it gently.
Heat oil in a kadai. On a medium hot oil, deep fry the rice balls ( seedai) till it becomes golden brown and crisp.
It’s important that frying is done on a medium flame. If not the seedai will remain uncooked in the inside.
Remove the seedai from the oil. Drain the excess oil ( spread it on a kitchen tissue).
Once it cools down, store it in an airtight container 🙂
