Pictures updated !!
Uppu Seedai / Uppu Cheedai / Salt Seedai - Easy Seedai Recipe with stepwise pictures - Learn how to make uppu seedai with easy tips to avoid bursting of seedai!
Uppu Seedai is a delicious crispy snack made special for Gokulashtami.I am trying uppu seedai and
vella seedai for the first time in my life.Uppu Seedai or also called as Salt Seedai is a traditional South Indian Snack made for Gokulashtami festival!When I told the idea of making uppu seedai to amma, with a eyebrow raised she warned me not to as she had heard so many bursting disaster stories. But seeing my excitement gone down in seconds, she gave her binding book(old recipes in papers binded together to form a recipe book) and asked me to try it from there as it was well explained with tips too.After putting mittu to sleep, I read it atleast thrice and had the feeling of reading for exams yes I almost memorised the recipe and the tips :) The next day morning I made the rice and urad dhal flours ready as I wanted to make it from the scratch.
Check vella seedai recipe here
I reserved the bursting part he he I mean making seedai and the clicking part to the weekend. I put some 4 balls and went out of the kitchen for few seconds, peeped out to see whether any disaster happened. My seedais popped out beautifully with the golden color, no splits no bursts - I felt like shouting Yayy!! my first seedai attempt is a success....:) The small pebbly balls is no more a terrorist bomber to me ;)
Again a new risky recipe learnt just for blogs sake and to share it with you all and am sure this is going to be my keeper. I have given few tips in my notes section to avoid bursting, hope this helps!
As this is the first time I am making seedai, I wanted to make the flours from the scratch and it was worth the effort made. I made the flours 4 days before making seedai so the flours can be made in advance too. My favorite is vella(jaggery) seedai.....
Uppu Seedai Recipe - Ingredients
Preparation Time : 2hrs flour processing time | Cooking Time : 30 mins | Makes : 2.5 cups
Recipe Category: Side dish | Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
Raw Rice -1.5 cups
Urad dhal - 2 tbsp
Coconut grated - 2 tbsp
Butter(at room temperature) - 3 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - as required to deep fry fry
For making with readymade flours
Rice flour(fine variety) - 1 cup
Urad Dal Flour - 1 tbsp
Coconut grated - 1 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp(optional)
Salt - as required
Oil - as required to fry
NOTE : If you are using the second set of ingredients(readymade ones) then sieve it well,roast it and follow from the step3.I personally haven't tried it with readymade flour but have given the measures from the recipe book.
Method:
- First rinse raw rice twice, and soak it in water for 2 hrs. Then spread the raw rice in a soft towel to absorb the excess water, Leave it aside for 30mins.Then grind it to a fine powder.

- Sieve the flour.. Add the remaining coarse powder to grind in next batch and grind it again and then sieve it. The powder should be very fine.Roast the flour till you see steam coming out from the flour,Set aside to cool.Meanwhile dry roast urad dal to golden brown.

- Grind it to a fine powder and sieve it.Roast the flour till nice aroma rises and set aside to cool.

- Now mix both the rice and urad dhal flour and sieve it once more .Now your flour for making seedai is ready. In a mixing bowl add the flour mixture with butter(melt it), sesame seeds,coconut and required salt mix it well once to even mixing.

- Add water slowly and mix well to form a soft pilable dough.Then roll small balls a round bigger than peas and arrange it in a clean cloth. Dont roll them tightly just pinch , roll them once and put it on the dry cloth or newpaper. Let it sit for 15-20mins for the moisture to leave. Prick a single hole in each ball with a toothpick or pin if you want to more cautious.

- Heat oil,when its hot - add the seedai balls in batches.Keep the flame in low medium and fry till golden then drain it in a kitchen towel or tissue paper. Don't be tempted to take it in lighter shade then the inside would not have been cooked - my first batch was like that so I made sure to fry the rest till golden and they were crispy and perfect.

Allow it to cool and store it in an airtight container.
My Notes:
- Make sure to sieve the flours.Add the remaining coarse flour to the next batch grind it then sieve repeat this process.
- If you have your flour smooth and very fine then your seedais will be smooth else it will be slightly coarse textured.
- You can use butter at room temperature or melt the butter as I did.
- You can even give the flour to mill and grind it if you are doing in bulk.
- Pricking step is optional. I did it randomly when I tried it for the first time but now the have updated the pics and now I didn't do this but still it was perfect.
- Make sure both the flours are sieved well before use.
- Roll the balls very smooth but gently not tight so that no splits are shown outside.
- Do not attempt to make bigger balls, for proper cooking inside make small balls a slightly bigger than peas.
- If you feel your coconut is moist then dry roast in tawa for few mins and then add it. I added it raw only.
- You can even add 1/2 tsp jeera along with sesame seeds.
- If your flame is high then your seedais will not cook evenly and will have brown shades here and there, the browning and cooking will not be even.
- If you get small bubbles and if your seedai is looking dry on the outside then butter is not enough, so measure and follow the quantity as mentioned above.
Reasons for seedai bursting and tips to avoid them:
- The moisture or air trapped inside the balls will make the seedai burst so pricking with holes with a needle and resting it in a dry cloth for 30mins were the tips given by my friends brahmin neighbour. And as its the first time I patiently pricked holes for most of the balls :)
- If the rice and urad dhal flour are not grinded and sieved well they will end up having small grains inbetween which will cause the seedai to burst. So make sure both the flours are sieved well and are very fine.
- Do not roll the balls tight, do them as smooth and gentle as possible. If you roll it tight then air bubbles might get trapped inside making them to burst. Also dont expect to get perfect rounds just pinch roll and allow it to rest.
