Ela Ada (Elayappam) is a traditional, sweet delicacy of Kerala. It is made with rice flour, jaggery, and grated coconut. Even though you can make it anytime and satisfy your craving, this is a must-have sweet in the festive season, like Onam.
Its preparation and making resemble the “Modak” in Maharashtra and the “Gujiya” of North India. Modak is a signature dish of Ganesh Chaturthi, in a Maharashtrian culture which is offered to lord Ganesha as offering with great respect, love, and joy. Ela ada is also called rice pancake.
It was interesting to learn the fact related to ela ada (elayappam); Now let me tell you the necessary ingredients to make ela ada with the touch of its health benefits.
Know the Ingredients of ela ada
Suppose you are aware of the ingredients’ nutritional benefits. In that case, it will push you to make it desirable to cook it quite often. And after knowing the health benefit of the ela ada, you can’t stop yourself from making them, so here are the basic but essential ingredients you need to have to make soft ela ada.
Rice: Rice is the first and foremost ingredient to make soft, yummy ela ada. Rice is a daily consumption grain rich in iron, manganese, fiber, and carbohydrates. Rice flour is a rich source of vitamins; also, The ela ada made from rice is gluten-free, so people with diabetes can also have it with no guilt or regrets.
Jaggery: Jaggery is the best and healthiest form of sweetener, which has a lot of health benefits like detoxifying the body, generating body heat, clearing the respiratory tracts, boosting immunity, metabolism and helping in menstrual pain relief,
Coconut: Coconut is the healthiest snack for binge eating, with benefits like better oral health and fiber. It quickly digests, helps in weight loss, and improves endurance. Loaded with benefits makes, it the best snack to have during weight loss.
Cardamom powder: It gives flavor and aroma to the ela ada.
First, before making ela ada(Elayappam), you must collect all required ingredients in one place; let’s see what you need.
Ingredients for stuffing
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- ¾ cup Jaggery
- 1 cup grated coconut ( fresh is best)
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
Ingredient needed to make the dough
- 1 cup fine powder of rice flour
- 1½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- Salt as per your taste bud
Stuffing preparation guide
- First, Take 1 teaspoon of ghee in a pan, followed by ¾ cup of jaggery and grated coconut
- Wait, jaggery to melt completely
- Your stuffing should be moist, and aromatics
- Now add ¼ teaspoon of cardamom powder and mix it well
Preparation of dough
- First, take the rice flour in a pan and saute it for 5 minutes
- Please put it in a bowl and wait to cool it down completely
- Take 1½ cups of water, 1 teaspoon of ghee, and ½ teaspoon of salt in a pan and Boil it for 2 min
- Now pour it into the already prepared rice flour and mix it well
- When flour soaks all water, then start kneading until it becomes a soft dough
- Grease the prepared dough with ghee or oil so that it does not stick to your hand
How to make the delicious Elayappam?
Now, you are ready with all the preparation to make fresh and soft ela ada, so let it process of making step by step;
- Take some fresh banana leaves, and cut them into small rectangular or square pieces. ( there is no compulsion of shape, you can cut it to your desired shape),
- Wash the banana leaves properly, keeping them aside, so that water from them evaporates. If you don’t have banana leaves, use baking paper.
- Warm the banana leaf slightly, and grease it with ghee so that it becomes a little soft and folds easily
- In the next step, take ball size dough and flatten it on the banana leaf/ baking paper.
- Add a tablespoon of prepared stuffing or filling to the flattened dough and spread it uniformly.
- Fold it in half, seal the filling from the edge (corner), and ensure it is closed properly.
- Please turn on the gas stove, put on the steamer, fill it with some water, and carefully place the sealed ela ada with banana leaves and wait for 5 minutes or until it cooks properly.
- Please turn off the gas stove, open the steamer lids, take out the freshly cooked soft ela ada from the steamer, and hurry! Your elayappam is ready to serve! Happy eating!
Note:
- It tastes best when served hot, but you can have it once it cools.
- It tastes best with fresh coconut, but you can also use desiccated or frozen coconut.
- Using banana leaves gives authenticity to its traditional touch, but if you are struggling to get banana leaves, use baking paper.
- You can either use small pieces of jaggery and melt them or jaggery powder. Both work best.
