Vella seedai

This is a “must” for Janmashtami neivedyam and is a sweet version of the uppu or salt seedai. It needs a little more care while making it as it has a tendency to either become rock hard or fall apart. Seedais also have a tendency to burst while frying, so make sure  that the flour is dry and has no lumps. These seedais can be made with store bought processed rice and urad flour also, but I prefer to make the flour at home as the seedais are definitely tastier. 
 
Ingredients 
Rice flour – 2 cups
Urad dal flour – 2 tsp 
Jaggery – 1 cup
Butter – 2 tsp
Sesame seeds – 1 tsp
Coconut grated – 2 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Oil for frying
 
To make the flour at home, soak the rice for an hour in water. Remove all the water and dry on a clean towel under the fan. When rice is completely dry, grind it very finely and put it through a sieve to ensure there are no large pieces of rice. The should  be ground again and sieved. Put it through a sieve at least twice to ensure you get a fine flour. Similarly, roast the Urad dal and dry grind it to a fine powder  by putting it through the sieve twice. 
 
dry roasting of flour
passing through sieve to remove lumps

Measure out the required rice and urad flour and dry roast till completely dry and put it through a sieve once more. Melt the jaggery with half a cup of water and allow to come to a boil. There is no need for thickening of the syrup. Allow to rest and this can be put through the strainer while mixing to make the dough. This step is to remove any impurities in the jaggery.

melting jaggery with water to remove impurities

Mix the rice flour and urad flour and add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the jaggery syrup through a strainer. Add a little bit at a time and mix the dough till you get a soft pliable chapati like dough. 

Take small portions and make round balls about 1 cm in diameter and keep them on a clean towel. Once all the dough has been made into balls, start frying them, about 10-15 at a time. The oil should be hot but maintained on a low to medium heat so the seedais cook well. Since it has jaggery, it will tend to get brown very quickly on high heat and the inside won’t cook. Also, don’t turn the seedais for a minute or so after putting in oil as it may break. 

seedais ready for frying
fried vella seedais

Carefully fry them, remove and allow oil to drain. Store in an air right container.