Ela ada
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Thin rice-dough parcels filled with coconut and jaggery, folded in banana leaf and steamed, a simple sweet for tea and festivals.
Region: KeralaOccasion: Evening snack; Onam and Thiruvathira; temple offeringsTime: 45 minServes: 10 piecesVegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted rice flour
- About 1 cup hot water, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 cup grated coconut
- ½ cup grated jaggery
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- Banana leaves cut into 15 cm squares, wilted over a flame
Method
- Mix the rice flour, salt and oil with enough hot water to make a soft, sticky dough.
- Melt the jaggery with a splash of water, add the coconut and cardamom and cook until the filling is moist but not runny.
- Spread a thin layer of dough on a banana leaf with wet fingers.
- Put a line of filling on one half and fold the leaf over to close it.
- Steam the parcels for 12–15 minutes. Serve warm, peeling off the leaf.
History
Steaming food in banana leaves is an old Kerala technique; the leaf gives the ada its fragrance.
Significance
Ela ada is an everyday tea-time sweet and is also made as an offering in temples and for festivals; versions with jackfruit filling are made in the jackfruit season.