Vella Seedai is a crunchy yet soft (yes, some things in life can be both crunchy and soft at the same time) sweet treat made with rice flour and butter. It is one of the various snacks prepared for Krishna Jayanthi festivities, a celebration of Lord Krishna’s birthday across India. Like its savory counterpart, the Uppu seedai, Vella seedai is also a challenging recipe – even for intermediate chefs. However, experts are equipped with tips and tricks to fix the recipe as they go, and they’re able to bring the best batch to the table. In my experience, anyone can make this if they stick to the right measures (just as in baking). It is very important to stick to the measurement when deep frying snacks made with jaggery as that is the deal breaker. If you add too little it will not taste as it needs to be, and if you add too much it will start to crumble in the oil as you fry it. Stick to the measure and get the best each time you make them. Let’s see how…

WHAT YOU WILL NEED for VELLA SEEDAI

Note: 1 cup = 235 ml

1. 1 Tbsp. roasted black gram flour or 2 Tbsp. de-husked black gram (urad dal or ulutham paruppu) to roast and grind
2. 1 Tbsp. de-husked roasted gram flour or 2 Tbsp. roasted gram (bhuna chana or pottukadalai) to grind – Optional
3. 1 cup rice flour
4. 1 tsp. white sesame seeds
5. 1 Tbsp. coconut, grated
6. 1 ½ Tbsp. unsalted butter
7. ¼ tsp. cardamom powder
8. ½ cup jaggery
9. ¼ cup water + 2 Tbsp. water for melting the jaggery
10. ½ tsp. ghee for greasing your palm
11. 2 cups. avocado oil or any cooking for frying

You can use both roasted blackgram flour and de-husked roasted gram flour or either one of them in lieu of the other but make sure, it amounts to 2 Tbsps. in all. Urad flour will give the seedai a darker color when fried compared to roasted gram flour

You can decrease the butter and jaggery a little bit but do not add more than the proportions specified. Excess of either, will make the dough crumble in the oil and will not hold the shape.

Kitchen tools

1. Flat bottom pan
2. Flat Ladle
3. Small blender jar and blender
4. Fine mesh sieve
5. Medium size bowl
6. Small sauce pan
7. Small strainer
8. Small damp cloth or kitchen paper towel
9. Frying pan
10. Spider strainer ladle

Traditional method calls for making the rice flour at home but I have had great results with store bought rice flour which makes this recipe a breeze to make. I have seen some bloggers use Idiyappam flour to make this and I am yet to try that. However, I have given the method for making rice flour at home under step 3 of the preparations if you wish to make it from scratch.

PREPARATION – VELLA SEEDAI (with step-by-step photos)

Step 1  –  Dry roast 2 Tbsp. de-husked black gram (urad dal) in a flat bottom pan on medium heat stirring constantly with a flat ladle, until it turns golden brown in color. Allow this to cool down completely and then grind it to a smooth powder, sieve, and set aside in a little bowl

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Step 2  –  In the same blender jar, grind 2 Tbsp. roasted gram, sieve this flour, and set aside in a small bowl

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You only need a table spoon of each of these flours for a cup of rice flour. In the above step I have mentioned that you need to grind 2 Tbsp. of each of them as that is the minimum my blender jar needs to grind and I will be using the remaining 1 Tbsp. of flour for Vella Seedai. You can make these two flours for up to a cup measure ahead of time and store it in an airtight container for making Murukku, Thenkuzhal, Thattai etc as these flours have a shelf life up to 3 months

Step 3  –  Now dry roast 1 cup rice flour in a flat bottom pan on medium heat stirring constantly with a flat ladle. When the flour starts to stlightly brown, remove it from heat and set aside to sieve

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Vella Seedai flour needs to be heated like Uppu Seedai to ensure there is no moisture. However, for Vella Seedai, you need to take it a step further and roast it to get slight browning. That will enhance the taste when it is fried with jaggery. As the outer layer of this Seedai will brown quickly due to the nature of jaggery, this roasting will help the inner dough to cook evenly within the short time that the outer layer changes color

Traditional method of making rice flour at home

Soak 1 cup rice in sufficient water for 2 hours. Drain the water and spread it on a clean cloth to absorb the excess water or you can leave it in the colander for an hour

In a medium size blender jar, grind the soaked and drained rice in batches to a fine powder

Sieve the flour and set aside. You can add the remaining coarse rice grains that are in the sieve to the next batch of rice that you will be grinding. The rice flour is now ready to be used in various bakshanams (snacks).

Step 4  –  In a medium bowl, take 1 cup of the roasted and sieved rice flour, 1 Tbsp. roasted black gram flour, 1 Tbsp. roasted gram flour, 1 tsp. white sesame seeds, 1 Tbsp. of fresh/ frozen grated coconut, 1 ½ Tbsp. softened butter, and ¼ tsp. cardamom powder. Combine all ingredients with hands until well incorporated and set aside

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Sieve all flours, including cardamom powder

Step 5  –  Set a small saucepan on medium heat, add 2 Tbsp. water and melt ½ cup jaggery over medium heat. When the jaggery melts completely and starts to froth, strain the jaggery syrup into a bowl

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Melting jaggery and filtering it helps to remove any dirt that might be in the jaggery block. But feel free to skip filtering if the jaggery you use is clean

Step 6  – Pour the melted jaggery and mix thoroughly. You can either use your hands or an electric hand mixer for this process. Add water little by little using a tablespoon to make a soft dough. The dough should be soft and crumbly like a cookie dough and yet come together into a ball when rolled. You will need upto ¼ cup water depending on the quality of the rice flour

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If the dough becomes too sticky with moisture, add 1-2 tsp. of roasted, sieved rice flour to bring it back to the required consistency. It is therefore very important to add water 1 spoon at a time

Step 7  –  Heat 2 cups avocado oil in a frying pan on medium heat

Test the oil for readiness by dropping a mustard size dough in the hot oil, if it bounces back immediately then the oil is ready for frying, else give a couple of minutes and test again

Step 8 – Now we have to test the Vella Seedai dough. Drop one Seedai or a smaller ball into the oil and cook it for a minute. If it starts to crumble in the oil as it cooks, that means you have added more jaggery. If this situation occurs, quickly add a couple of tsp. roasted and sieved rice flour to the dough and adjust the dough before you drop a whole batch of Seedai in the oil

Step 9  –  Grease your hands with ½ tsp. ghee, take dough from step 6 the size of a gooseberry size (1 Tbsp.) and gently roll it in between your palms to make a ball. Repeat this process for the rest of the dough and set it aside on a damp cloth over a plate or flat surface if you are making a larger batch

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Do not try to make a perfect sphere with smooth finish. Little cracks on the surface will help the steam escape and help cook the Seedai thoroughly. Be gentle and do not apply pressure while rolling

Step 10  – Reduce the heat and gently drop about 10-15 balls into the hot oil and stand away from the stove for safety. Fry them on low flame. Do not stir immediately. Vella Seedai will break apart when disturbed. Allow it to cook for a sometime and gently stir a couple of times for them to move around in the frying pan with a spider ladle and keep cooking until it turns reddish brown and the bubbles in the oil calm down completely

Vella Seedai tends to brown easily and by the time the bubbles in the pan subside which is an indicator that all the dough is cooked, you would have burnt the outside. So remember to keep the heat on a low setting

Step 11  –  Remove the fried Vella Seedai with a spider ladle onto a paper towel to drain excess oil and allow it to cool before serving. Depending on the pan size, heat and number of Seedais in each batch, it will take approximately 2-3 minutes to fry a batch of them. Repeat the process for the rest of the rolled Seedais

Store it in an airtight container after it has cooled down completely to savor with Uppu Seedai or by itself

Step 12  – Enjoy your sublime Vella Seedai this Gokulashtami and around the year 😋

Related Recipes

Uppu Seedai

Vella Aval

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Overcast skies and wet, rainy days force kids to play indoors and if you have yummy snacks to munch on during those indoor play dates, doesn’t it just make everyone’s day? Krishna Jayanthi falls in the middle of the monsoon season in India. It is fascinating to see how our ancestors have aligned festival snacks keeping the seasons in mind. The tradition of making seasonal snacks is part of every culture and you just have to dig just a bit deeper to find out the whys behind these traditions. In olden times when junk foods were not so popular, moms and grannys came up with foods and snacks with simple ingredients that were easily available in pantries. Grinding different grains in the stone mills for these snacks was a fun activity in the afternoon for the ladies of the household. In joint families, such activities of pickling, making large batches of snacks, etc. were a time for women in the family and sometimes neighbors to catch-up on the day’s news and indulge in some gossip. Lucky are those who have had the opportunity to sit next to their grandmas and listen to her stories as she happily grinds and mills different kinds of spices and flours. As I gobble down one of these sweet balls (while I simultaneously munch on the savory Uppu seedai), it brings back memories of the times spent with my mom and sisters while we rolled Seedais as amma made Kai-Murukku. And since we now have rice flour on our pantry shelves without needing to mill it, there is no excuse for not making this. The combination of Uppu and Vella seedai is a perfect balance of taste that you simply must not miss.

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Thank you for stopping by. If you’ve tried this recipe, I would love to hear from you. Please add your comments below and / or rate this recipe. Your feedback will help me improve and share better recipes with you.

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