ELAI ADAI (Steamed rice pan cakes in banana leaves, stuffed with coconut, jack fruit and jaggery), how to make elai adai

This post is an Aadi Velli special!!
All the 4 Fridays of this special month, after the advent of Dakshinayana, are very special for Goddess Shakthi, and worshipping Devi on these special days, will definitely root out evil forces, and SHE will protect us from the negative forces
Please refer to my other Festival delicacies, Payasams and kheers and celebrate this special Aadi month with genuine devotion.
What is Elai Adai? 
It is a Kerala delicacy....traditionally rice is ground, then made like dosas / pan cakes on banana leaves, on  which the sweet stuffing is spread and steamed as packets. This delicacy acquires extra aroma and taste since it is being steamed in banana leaves. Banana leaves, not only add flavor to the dish, but also keep all the flavors intact, and protect food from burning. Banana leaves are widely used in South Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and Sri Lankan cuisines.
Though nowadays, many people use rice flour to make this, I have ground rice batter and made this recipe in the traditional manner.

Can be made with just Raw rice too, if we mind mixing in boiled rice for neivedhyam
Please refer to my Glossary for any unknown terms.

Ingredients

For the batter

Raw rice + Boiled rice - 3/4 cup (i.e., raw rice 1/4 + 1/8 cup; boiled rice 1/4 + 1/8 cup)

A pinch salt

Water as needed

Ghee - 1/2 tsp

For the filling

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Jack fruit - 1/2 cup, chopped

Ghee - 1 tsp

Recipe Cuisine: South Indian; Category: Sweet/dessert/neivedhyam

Prep time: 30 mts; Cooking time: 40 mts

Yields 5 adais

The poornam / stuffing can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated.

Jaggery measured, put in a pan and melted, then checked for impurities.

Fresh grated coconut added with cardamom powder, mixed well, then chopped jack fruit pieces added and mixed well

Keep it in a box, mix in 1 tso ghee, after it cools down, refrigerate.

Overnight soaked raw rice and boiled rice, loaded into blender jar, ground into a smooth batter like butter, a pinch of salt and ghee added to the batter and mixed well. Consistency of the batter is also shown, it should be slightly thicker than dosa batter.

Banana leaves have to be seasoned for this. First they have to be washed and wiped well, dried for some time, then the corner of the leaf removed, then toasted over flames till the leaf shrinks a bit, then slightly brushed with ghee and kept aside. For this purpose, tiffin leaves are ideal, so that the wastage will be less.

Take a ladle of batter, spread like dosa, spread generous portion of the filling to half portion, like how we do for masala dosa, bring the top portion of the leaf and close, so that it will be folded like a dosa, then make the leaf like a packet, and keep in the steamer, which already has been kept ready with boiling water.

First, one packet kept, then 3 are lined, steamed for 20 minutes, then the picture where you see the discolored leaves are after steaming.

Slowly open one packet and see. the adai will come out easily without sticking to the leaf. This shows, it is well cooked.

The well cooked adai

This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Notes

*Can make with just Raw rice too

*Some people make this delicacy with dried jack fruit also (called chakka varatti), but I think, using fresh jack fruit definitely gives  more flavor.

* You can make these adais, and just before eating, can warm them up slightly for 10 seconds in a microwave and serve them. They are really delicious!

Categories: Desserts, Festival Delicacies, Indian sweets, Janmashtami neivedhyams, Navarathri Neivedhyams