Preparation Time : 30 minutes
Cooking Time : one hour + 20 minutes
Serving : 5 members
Description
I get nostalgic about this dish as it reminds me of my lazy summer vacations and days filled with delicious food. I don’t remember seeing an empty table at my grand parents place in Palghat at any point of time in my entire lif. Three meals with home made snack’s for tea in the evening was a must every day. The remaining time we had the snack’s container… You can call it a drum as it was so huge and all the salt water marinated pickles from raw mangoes, pineapples, cranberries ( kalakaaei)….uff my mouth is watering thinking about all that. My grand father was a true blue foodie and made sure we had brunches in between while watching a movie , a cricket match or wrestling match in the telly. All the while my grand father making his presence with us giving good company. Me being the only grand daughter then was not pampered at all as my grand parents were fed up of having four daughters in a row. So I grew up with a lot of boys around me but I had my aunts who were all just with in ten years elder than me. So they were like my cousins rather than my aunts. Ela Ada was one snack that was there on the table nearly every alternative day and sure was taken for granted then. Only after my marriage did I realise I have fallen hard for how these home style unique recipes… Legacy of my grand mother worth their weight in gold let me reconnect with my ravuthar heritage. Well… Dining trends come and go but the nostalgic unforgettable table experience sure does endure our loved ones too as we can’t get those memorable by gone good old days.
Ingredients for the filling
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Jackfruit Puree | 3 cups |
| Powdered Jaggery | 3 cups |
| Ghee | 1/2 cup |
| Salt | a pinch |
| Grated coconut | 1/2 of a small coconut |
Method
- Remove the fruit bulbs, deseed them. Pressure cook in a cooker for 3 whistles, with about ½ cup water. Allow to cool naturally and grind to a smooth paste to get jackfruit purée.
- Heat a heavy bottomed Kadai add the jaggery. Dissolve the jaggery in about 1 cup of water.Strain and remove the impurities. Wash the kadai and pour back the jaggery syrup into the kadai.Let it boil on medium heat till one string consistency.
- Then add the pureed jackfruit and cook on medium heat, stirring once in a while to avoid burning.
- Do not cook on high flame.Once all the moisture is absorbed and the mixture starts thickening add the ghee little at a time or whenever you feel the mixture sticking to the bottom. Keep stirring and cooking till the mixture leaves the sides of the kadai.
- Add grated coconut and a pinch of salt. mix well. Take’s about one hours time to get to a gooey thick consistency. Remove from flame and let it cool naturally.
Ingredients for the cover
Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Rice flour | 2 cups |
| Salt | a pinch |
| Hot water | 2 1/2 cups |
| Banana leaves | 3 leaves cut into note book size |
| Coconut oil | 1 tablespoon |
Method for cover
Mix rice flour, salt and hot water together to get a smooth, loose pliable dough. Keep covered until needed to be used.
How to proceed
- Apply coconut oil over the note book size cut banana leaves. Place them over the stove top on medium heat so the leaves become soft and foldable.
- Take a lemon size ball of dough and knead well. Roll to a ball with no cracks. Place over the greased banana leaf. With the help of your greased Palm, press gently to flatten.
- Turn over and press again going all around the round disc making sure it’s equal and gets to a thin round disc. Place one tablespoon of cooled filling on one side of the circle.
- Fold over with the banana leaf to get a semi circle. Press the edges together over the top of the banana leafy gently but making sure it’s sealed well.
- Do the same with all the filling and cover dough. Steam in a idli vessel for 10-12 minutes and serve hot .
Notes
- Make sure to knead the dough well only then you get ela Ada with no cracks.
- You can use just jaggery and grated coconut alone for filling When pressed for time or crave this dish when jackfruits are not in season I do the cheats way of using ready made chakka varatti ( double horse brand ).
- Mix a little powdered jaggery and grated coconut to it and use.
