Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Gothambu Ela Ada / Sweet Wheat Flat Cakes Steamed in Banana Leaf

We had a small sadya on Vishu and the best part was that the sadya was served on the banana leaf. We were glad  that we could get banana leaves from the Mexican store here. There were some left over leaves and hence I thought of making Ela Ada with them. Ela Ada is a traditional popular snack of Kerala. They are  usually made with rice flour/raw rice as outer covering and coconut-jaggery combo is used as the filling. They are steamed in banana leaf which imparts a special flavour to this sweet. This was one of my childhood favourites :)

I wanted to make rice ada, but realized that I ran out of rice flour and there was no time to soak and make a batter with raw rice. So I tried it with wheat flour by making a thick batter than making a dough. Using wheat was a total experiment, but they came out very delicious and flavourful. They slightly got stuck to the leaf and got torn at some places. I think its because I put less batter on the leaf, so the thickness of outer covering was less. I wanted to take step by step pictures, but I couldn't. Hope you all will try this out :)



Makes 5-6 Ela Ada

You need...

For the batter:

3/4 cup Wheat flour
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
Salt
Water

For the filling:

11/4 cup grated Coconut
3/4 cup Jaggery
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1 tbsp Cashews and Raisins (optional)

Banana Leaves


To prepare..

Add some water to the wheat flour and make a very thick batter. It shouldn't have a flowing consistency, must be thick. Add salt and cardamom powder, mix well and keep aside.

Heat a pan. Add jaggery and melt it in a very little water to form a thick syrup. Please take care that you don't add too much water. Now strain away all the impurities from the jaggery syrup and put it back to the pan. Bring to a boil and add the coconut. Saute until mixture becomes very thick and starts leaving the pan. Add the cardamom powder , cashews and raisins to this. Mix well and allow it to cool.

Meanwhile wash and cut the banana leaves to rectangular pieces. Slightly wilt them by showing them over the flame or stove for few seconds. 

Take each leaf and pour a ladle of batter into it. Spread it with the ladle just like how you do for dosa, but make sure that it doesn't become a very thin layer. Place some filling all over the batter and carefully fold the leaf. Steam them in an idly cooker  or steamer for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm.



Notes:
* You can make different fillings using various dals, flattened rice, banana etc. A simple one is just mixing coconut and sugar.
* You can make rice ada similarly using rice flour or raw rice.
* If you can't get banana leaves, you can try with parchment paper or aluminium foil.





Sending this to Kerala Kitchen, hosted by Ramya, original event announcement here.



43 Tasty Comments:

Julie said...

Delicious adas..love these a lot,just tried these 2days back..lovely guilt free snack,yummy!

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Jayanthy Kumaran said...

yummm yummm..! wonderful presentation
Tasty Appetite

Elaichii said...

Ela ada kollam! mouth watering!

Mahi said...

looks yum!

Nalini's Kitchen said...

Nice idea to use wheat flour..looks healthy and delicious...

Hema said...

Wud love to taste this, looks so delicious..

Jayne said...

This looks tasty. I'd like to try it sometime. Thanks for the recipe. :)

www.bonteka.blogspot.com

Gayathri NG said...

Looks authentic n delicious ada, nicely done...

halal foodie said...

yummyy!!!

Deepa. R. Krishnan said...

Wow...!most delicious snack in the whole world..

Sumi said...

irrestible snack.Iam sure would have special aroma..will try it for sure.

Princy Vinoth said...

i love this snack and wheat makes it even better.

Pushpa said...

Very yummy adas with the fantastic filling.

Vimitha Durai said...

Amma makes this and I love this. Looks so perfect

Hamaree Rasoi said...

I am drooling ....not only healthy but looks delicious too

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Hamaree Rasoi said...

I am drooling ....not only healthy but looks delicious too

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Anisha said...

That last pic is making me drool... Love ada...:)

Shilpakiran said...

my co sister prepare this .. very yummy ..it looks perfect dear

Kaveri Venkatesh said...

Delicious elai adas...Love the wheat flour outer coating.Have tried with APF but wheat flour is so much healthier..will experiment and see

easyfoodsmith said...

The close-up shot is the ultimate teaser! Delicious post.

anjana said...

looks delicious..new dish to try..

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a super tempting ela ada, definitely healthy and yummy snacks..

Reshmi said...

didn;t know we could try this with wheat flour.. lovely recipe..
Noel collections

PrathibhaSreejith said...

Irresistible Snack, loved the variation with Wheat flour. nice clicks Sobha, especially the piece of Ada you r holding is just awesome :-)

hemalata said...

Tasty n irresistible snack, love the presentation.

Square Meals said...

Nicely done Sobha :-)

Aparna

Unknown said...

that is a new dish for. Looks so delicious !!! :)

Faseela said...

my fav. 1 ....drooling here...superb...

radha said...

Nicely made. Looks so good.

Achu's Amma's Kitchen said...

delicious and yummy snacks.last week i tried this.filling snakckand healthy one

FewMinute Wonders said...

I have tasted all this when amma or my aunts make it. I do not know how to make it, but love to eat it. Thanks for the recipe.

Suja Manoj said...

Healthy snack,irresistible..yum yum..

Unknown said...

wonderful snack,reminds me of Tamale.

www.mahaslovelyhome.com said...

awesum luking..loved the pics...nice one n easy to make..
Maha

Zari(Nilam) said...

lOOKS DELICIOUS....

Vidhya said...

The last picture is making me drool.Loved your healthy and yummy ada.

jasna varcakovic said...

So exotic recipe for me...Would love to try it!

jasna varcakovic said...

So exotic recipe for me...would love to try it!

Jeyashris Kitchen said...

nicely done and looks yum

simran said...

looks absolutely mouthwatering!!!!!!!superb!

Sensible Vegetarian said...

I love Ela Ada both the sweet and savory version, yours look awesome.

Deeps @ Naughty Curry said...

that is an interesting take on it, using wheat flour... looks lovely

Sangeetha M said...

wow...very delicious ada...more healthier with wheat flour...looks too tempting dear...
loved your clicks!

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