Elai Adai - Steamed rice sweet

Elai Adai is a Traditional sweet snack (Steamed sweet dumplings) wrapped in a banana leaf. Elai (leaf), adai (dumplings). Specially made in God's own country - Kerala (Keralam). 

In most of the homes especially the tamizh speaking brahmins settled in Kerala, it is a common snack item.  Banana leaf and coconut are easily available.

This beautiful looking steamed snack nicely parcelled in a green banana leaf is too inviting.

I remember, in my childhood days, when amma makes them, the flavour gently floated & reached my nostrils, made me drool badly.  I eagerly waited for her to open the traditional steamer and take out the parcels and handover to me.

When my first milk tooth fell, i was at my aunt's home. Those days, it was a practice that the elderly lady in the family will help extracting the shaking milk tooth. After it was extracted, the pain and blood scared me. She was making elai adais, that day. To cheer me up, she laughed and handed over a parcel to me saying "when a tooth is extracted, elai adai is made. Remember this day and everytime when your milk tooth falls ask amma for elai adai". Yes, elai adai, indeed made me forget all that pain and I had a sweet tooth then to relish those glossy looking yummy sweet adais.  Everytime when a tooth fell, I remembered that sweet incident.

The traditional recipe calls for ingredients viz., jackfruit, coconut, jaggery for the poornam (stuffing). Ladies were (and are!) so smart that they found a solution to make a seasonal stuff available in one form or the other, throughout the year (off seasons), which made them invent pickles and preserves.

During the season, fresh jackfruit pods are finely chopped and added to the coconut poornam (pooran). During off season, the preserve is used. 

There are some quick versions too available now a days which uses coconut, cardamom powder and sugar. But the flavour of jackfruit, jaggery and coconut can never be beaten. That is the power of authentic recipe!

Whatever the ingredient for Poornam (Puran) is, the banana leaf is the most important thing for 'eali' adai making, on which it is made and packed before steaming. The leaf give the adais a drool worthy look, yummy flavour & taste.

Let us get into the elai adai making.

you will need :-

1. Banana Leaf (Plantain leaf) - 3 Nos.
2. Raw Rice : 1 Cup
3. Grated coconut - 1.5 Cups
4. Jaggery - 1 Cup (or as per taste)
5. Jack fruit Pods - 4-5 Nos. (If you use preserve, use 2-3 tbsp)
6. Ghee - 1 tbsp

Preparation :-

• Soak the raw rice for 2 hours and grind to a smooth paste. The consistency of the batter is thick but pouring (like a batter for Bajji )

•  Wash the banana leafs and pat them dry. Switch on the gas and very lightly toast them on flame, so that they don't tear while folding. It becomes easy to handle.

•  Dissolve jaggery in water (less than 1/4 cup of water), filter the impurities. 

• Heat a wok, add the filtered jaggery water, grated coconut, jack fruit pieces (or preserve) and cook till the mixture thickens.  [If you are using the preserve, add the preserve to the coconut).

• Add a tbsp of ghee (clarified butter) and mix well. Switch off the flame.

• Pour water in a steamer and bring the water to boil

Elai adai making :-

• Take a piece of plantain leaf (banana leaf/vazhai elai) and lay it flat on a working surface.

• Take a laddle of batter, pour some on the leaf and spread it like a dosa (pancake)

• Take a tbsp of poornam (prepared coconut stuffing) and place it on the middle. Very gently spread them a little.

• Now fold the leaf carefully once and place them on the steamer

• Close the steamer and steam the parcels for 10 minutes 

• Open, let it cool a bit and serve the sweet along with the parcel.

 Sit back and relish the flavourful steamed sweet adais.

Ona Sadhya / Feast at our Home

Hello,

This year (2014) had a great onam celebration. With the help of my 10, 5 and 3 lit pressure cookers, i could easily make a Sadhya / Feast. So sharing with you a glimpse of the onam feast so that you can enjoy virtually.




Menu :

1. Palada Pradhaman
2. Kichadi
3. Pachadi
4. Aviyal
5. Kurukku Kalan
6. Olan
7. Thoran
8. Puli Inji
9. Pazha Norukku
10. Pappadam
11. Kai varathadhu
12. Salkara Upperi
13. Nadan Ari Choru
14. Parippu
15. Arachu vitta Sambar
16. Rasam
17. Nei
18. Thayiru

 
Here is the appartment Ranogli + Pookalam fusion I made on that day

Now, did you..... burrrrrrrrrrrrrrpp?

Enjoy the virtual feast.

Bajra Ragi Idli - Kezhvaragu kambu idli

Idli - is considered to be an healthy breakfast which supplies the required energy to start a day in the form of carbohydrates.   

Adding native grains of our country make an oridinary idli into an elated Healthy Idli. Native grains have their own health benefit. our traditional food consisted of this. But after the white rice entered our cuisine, the native grains which are compeltely filled with goodness from mother nature has been pushed to a corner which is noticed only by few. Those few are trying to bring them to the lime light through their innovative recipes.

Sharing with you a one such recipe which includes Ragi and Bajra into this healthy idli making.

Ingredients :-

1. Bajra / Pearl Millet - 1 cup
2. Ragi - 1 cup
3. Parboiled rice - 3 cup (idli rice)
4. Whole Urad / Bengal Gram - 1 cup
5. Sago - 2 tbsp
6. Fenugreek seeds - 1.5 tsp

Procedure :-

• Wash and Soak Bajra, Ragi and rice for 10 hours  along with sago and fenugreek seeds

• Wash and Soak urad for one hour

• Drain water from soaked urad

• First in a wet grinder, put the Urad and grind it for 20 to 30 minutes by adding water little by little till it becomes nice & fluffy like butter.

• Transfer the batter to a vessel.

• Now Add the soaked rice+ragi+sago+bajra+fenugreek and grind it to paste by adding water little by little as and when required so that you can easily transfer it to the vessel without dropping.

• when rice is ground, add the already ground Urad & required salt & grind them together for 10 minutes (no need to add water now) so that they get mixed well.

• Transfer it to a bigger vessel and let it ferment for 6 hours or till the batter raise well. If you are leaving it overnight on a hot day, do keep a big eating plate (thali) under the vessel so that in case any spillage happens during fermentation, it will fall into the plate.

• To make idli, to the fermented batter, add required water (slightly more than dropping consistency) and mix well.

• Grease the idli mould, Put the steamer on the stove and let the water inside it boil.

• Now pour a laddle of batter into moulds and steam it for 10 minutes.

• Insert a knife. if it comes out clean, the idli is done!

Enjoy the healthy idli with a healthy coconut or onion chutney or go as per what your taste bud suggest!

Eat Healthy, Live Healthy!

 

Pazha Norukku / Pazha Nurukku

Pazha Norukku / Nurukku is one of the servings done for Ona Sadhya. A sweet dish made out of the special banana of Kerala 'Nendram Pazham' that is fully ripe.  It is also prepared on ordinary days as a snack and served along with salted accompaniments like fried kerala papad or banana chips.

The dish is very simple to prepare.

You will need :- (4-5 pieces)

1. Nendram Pazham (Etha pazham) - 1 No. (big)
2. Jaggery (shredded)  - 1.5 tbsp
3. Salt - a pinch
4. Water to boil the banana
5. Ghee - 1 tsp (optional)

Procedure :-

• Wash the nendram banana and wipe it dry.

• Cut the banana into equal pieces (4 ot 5 pieces) with skin

• Boil water, add jaggery, a pinch of salt and the cut banana (with skin)

• Cook till the banana is done and the water reudces and the Melted jaggery syrup coat the bananas like a glazy sauce. 

• Add ghee, gently mix without breaking the bananas.

• Pazha Norukku / Pazha nurukku is ready!

• It is served with papadam (kerala fried papad) or Kai varathadhu (Banana chips). A bite of salty papadam / chip, a bite of the sweet pazha nurkku... what a combo!