JOIN USFeast on festival delights
No Indian festival can be complete without making some of the choicest of sweets and savouries for the occasion. Krishna Janmashtami is a tender and beautiful occasion during which a variety of delicacies are crafted and prepared with care.
The Vaishnavites of South India and the Tamilian population always prepare a delicious dish called the seedai for the big day.
Vella seedai or sweet seedai
Ingredients: Two small cups of rice flour (made by washing, drying, roasting and powdering the rice); 1 tbsp of roasted urad dal (powdered); a small cup of grated coconut; 1 tbsp of ghee (melted); 1½ cups of jaggery; 1 tbsp of sesame seeds (roasted); 4 pods of cardamom; 2 cloves; ½ tsp of dry ginger powder; ½ tsp of nutmeg; ½ tsp of salt; ½ litre of oil or ghee for frying.
Method: Roast the cardamom, cloves, dry ginger powder and nutmeg before grinding these spices into a fine powder. Take a large pan, pour one litre of water into it and bring it to a boil. Add the crushed jaggery to the water and keep stirring till it melts completely and reaches a one-string consistency. Immediately, toss in the rice flour, urad dal flour, ghee, the spice powder, sesame seeds and salt into the jaggery syrup. Mix the ingredients well, gradually add hot water and knead the mixture into a dough without lumps. Apply rice flour on your palms and pinch out the dough to make large marble-shaped balls. Do not press the dough or shape them into perfectly smooth balls, as they may burst while being fried. Heat oil or ghee in a pan and fry the balls till they turn golden brown. Remove them from the oil and place them on tissues. Once the seedais cool down, store them in an airtight container.
Uppu seedai or spicy seedai
Ingredients: Two small cups of rice flour; 1 tbsp of roasted urad dal (powdered); a small cup of grated coconut; 1 tbsp of ghee (melted); a small cup of channa dal (soaked); 1 tbsp of sesame seeds (roasted); 10 to 12 red chillies roasted and powdered; an little asafoetida (the solid variety soaked in hot water); ½ litre of oil for frying.
Method: Mix the rice flour, urad dal flour, soaked channa dal, ghee, red chilli powder, sesame seeds and salt, in a large pan. Add cold water little by little and knead the mixture into a firm dough without lumps. Make sure to smear flour on your palms before breaking morsels of the dough and rolling them out into little marble-sized balls. Deep fry the seedais till they turn golden brown. Once the balls are ready, drain the excess oil. The seedais must cool down before they can be stored in airtight containers.
Rava seedai
Ingredients: Two small cups of semolina (roasted in ghee); 1 tbsp of ghee (melted); 1 tbsp of pepper (roasted and powdered); an inch of asafoetida (the solid variety soaked in hot water); ½ litre of oil for frying.
Method: Mix the all the ingredients in a large pan. Gradually add hot water to the mixture and knead into a firm dough. Make small balls out of the dough. Deep fry the seedais till they become golden brown. Remove them from the oil and place them on fresh tissues. Once they cool down, store them in airtight containers.
Butter seedai
Ingredients: Two small cups of rice flour; 1 tbsp of roasted urad dal (powdered); 1 tbsp of fresh white butter (melted); a small stick of asafoetida (soaked in hot water); cold water; ½ litre of ghee.
Method: Mix the rice flour, urad dal flour, asafoetida and salt in a large pan. Add the cold water gradually and knead the mixture into a firm dough. Create balls out of the dough and deep fry the seedais in hot ghee. Once fried, drop the seedais onto a plate filled partially with wheat flour so that the excess ghee can be absorbed. The flour can be used later to make rotis. Once the seedais cool down, store them in airtight containers.