Uppu Seedai / Salt Seedai

Crunchy & Yummy Uppu Seedai!

Uppu Seedai (Salt Seedai) stands as a significant and cherished neivedhyam dish during the auspicious Krishna Jayanthi (Gokulashtami) festival. Amidst the array of offerings we prepare on this special day, Seedai holds a unique and integral place as Prasad. The process involves combining rice flour and urad dal flour with a blend of salt, hing (asafoetida), and butter, which is then kneaded into a dough. Subsequently, we craft these dough into tiny balls before submerging them into hot oil for deep frying, rendering them irresistibly crunchy. Seedai emerges as a savory and crunchy snack, suitable for everyone from little kids to adults. It’s worth noting that both Uppu Seedai and Vella Seedai may initially pose a challenge due to their intricate preparation and time-consuming nature, but once you master the techniques, the results are undeniably rewarding!

Childhood memories

In my childhood, I have fond memories of my mom meticulously preparing 5-6 batches of dough for Uppu Seedai. My sister, my dad, and I eagerly joined in to help her roll the dough into small balls. My dad, in particular, displayed incredible patience, crafting the tiniest of balls. Surprisingly, these smaller balls turned out to be even crunchier and more delightful than their larger counterparts.

Although the process of making Uppu Seedai could be a bit tiring, the end result was undeniably delicious. As children, we often wondered why our mom was making such a large quantity, but it soon became apparent that she was ensuring we had an ample supply of these crispy treats for at least a week. The joy of indulging in these homemade delicacies was worth every bit of effort put into their preparation. These memories continue to fill my heart with warmth and nostalgia.

Tips for making Uppu Seedai and how to avoid bursting of seedai in the oil 

How to avoid the bursting of seedai while frying ?

I’m aware that making Uppu Seedai can be a daunting task for many, and the fear of them bursting while frying in hot oil is a common concern. While the steps may seem straightforward, there are indeed crucial points to keep in mind during the preparation of the dough to prevent such mishaps. The reasons behind Uppu Seedai bursting in the oil can be multifaceted, and it’s essential to understand and address these factors to ensure a successful outcome.

1. Smooth Flour :  The rice flour and urdal flour should be very nice and smooth. We need to pass the flours through the sieve atleast twice to get smooth flour. This will prevent breaking of seedai while frying in oil. Sometimes if the flour is wet or if it is not smooth, there may be chances of bursting of seedai while frying in oil which is very dangerous. So we should be cautious while doing seedai.
2. Soft Balls: We just need to roll the dough to the soft ball and not a very rigid ball as the air particles inside the dough try to come out while frying and if the ball is very rigid, it may burst in oil.
3. Dry Balls: After making small balls, leave it in the newspaper / plate to dry before dropping in oil. The wetness or the moisture in the ball tend to burst.

Store-bought Rice Flour Vs. Homemade Rice flour

• Traditionally the seedai is made using home made rice flour. But we can very much make seedai using the store bought ready made rice flour as well. In fact the seedai that i have shown in the video is made using store bought Rice flour.
• Homemade Rice flour is the preferred method as it will ensure the right texture and color of the seedai.
• Before using Store bought or Homemade Rice flour, We need to fry the rice flour till its warm
• Some brand of store bought rice flour makes the seedai darker than the usual golden brown.

Ratio of Rice Flour to Urad Dal flour 

• The perfect ratio of Rice flour and Urad Dal flour would be 11: 1. You can use a small ladle to measure or you can use a standard measuring cup or a tumbler.  In this recipe, i am using ladle. But you can use cup, ladle or anything.
• Whatever measuring utensil you use measure the rice flour and urad dal flour with the same measuring equipment. If you use a ladle to scoop 11 measures of rice flour then use the same ladle to scoop 1 measure of urad dal flour. Then only the ratio will work.
• Adding more urad dal than the ratio given makes the seedai brittle and the color will be more red than golden brown. So maintain the ratio.

Why Seedai is sometimes harder and sometime chewy?

Deep frying Seedai at right temperature and flame will ensure right crunchiness of seedai.

• Before deep frying ,ensure the oil is hot enough. You can check by dropping a pinch of dough to see if it raises immediately. If so, then the oil is ready!
• Once the oil is ready, add only 1 seedai to the oil. Keep the flame in low and allow that one seedai to get fried. Do not stir with a ladle immediately after dropping the seedai. Just leave for few seconds and then use a ladle.
• Ensure the seedai is fried properly and then take out the seedai. From next batch, you can add 2 handful of seedai to the oil and deep fry in low flame.
• If we keep the flame high to speed up the process, the seedai becomes dark brown soon and when you take out the seedai from oil, it seems crispy but after cooling down, the seedai will become chewy.
• Butter is another important ingredient to get right crunchiness. We can also add hot oil but adding oil makes the seedai hard to bit. Butter gives right texture and the seedai will be crunchy at the same time melt in mouth.

Why seedai is consuming lot of oil?

Sometimes we feel seedai has so much of oil. Its because if the temperature of oil is not correct. If the temperature of oil is too low, then the seedai will soggy with oil.

Recipe Card for Uppu Seedai:

Pin Recipe

Uppu Seedai | Gokulashtami Recipes

Course: Baking Recipes, Festival, Snack, Snacks

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Equipments Needed

• Heavy Bottomed Pan

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 Cups

Calories: 284kcal

Author: Sowmya Venkatachalam

Uppu Seedai: A crispy, savory delight for Krishna Jayanthi! Learn about the mouthwatering tradition of making these crunchy rice flour snacks, seasoned to perfection with hints of spices. Explore the joy of preparing and savoring Uppu Seedai during this festive season.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 Measure Urad Dal Flour Measure is anything from ladle to cup
• ▢ 11 Measure Homemade Rice Flour
• ▢ 1 tbsp Butter at room temperature
• ▢ 1 tbsp Split Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
• ▢ 2 tbsp Grated Coconut We can also use Finely Chopped Coconut
• ▢ Salt As Needed
• ▢ ½ tsp Asafoetida (Asafetida / Hing)
• ▢ 2 Cups Oil for Deep Frying

Instructions 

• ▢
  Soak the gram dal(channa dal) in water for 10 minutes. 

Preparing Dough

• ▢
  Homemade rice flour is the best option for seedai than the store bought rice flour. The ratio of rice flour to urid dal flour is 11:1 (I have used ladle, so for 11 ladles of rice flour, we need to add 1 ladle of urid dal flour. You can use cup, tumbler or even spoon). We need to use the right ratio other wise the seedai will not turn out good. The more uriddal flour, seedai would be dark colour. Lesser urid dal flour results in very light color. So please maintain the ratio.
• ▢
  Pass the rice flour and urid dal flour through the sieve atleast twice to make sure they are perfectly smooth.
• ▢
  Take a bowl and add the flours along with butter, grated coconut, hing, salt and the soaked and drained gram dal and mix well with your hand so that all are nicely mixed up
• ▢
  Then sprinkle water little by little and knead them to a smooth and stiff dough. Do not add more water and make the dough sticky. The dough should be stiff.
• ▢
  Then grease your fingers and palm with oil and take small quantity of dough and roll it to a tiny ball. Do this for rest of the dough. Allow the seedai dough balls in clean cloth for atleast 5-10 minutes to dry. 

Frying Seedai

• ▢
  Heat oil in a pan. Check if the oil is hot enough to raise the seedai immediately by dropping a seedai. When it raises immediately, then our oil is ready. Take the tiny dough balls in batches. Do not overload the oil with more seedai.
• ▢
  Drop 20-30 balls at a time and deep fry them till they turn golden brown color and crispy. Remove the crispy seedai from the pan and place it in a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the step for the rest of the seedai balls. 
• ▢
  Now the crispy, crunchy and tasty Uppu Seedai is now ready for neivedhyam or for serving!

Video

Notes

How to avoid the bursting of seedai while frying ?

1. Smooth Flour :  The rice flour and urdal flour should be very nice and smooth. We need to pass the flours through the sieve atleast twice to get smooth flour. This will prevent breaking of seedai while frying in oil. Sometimes if the flour is wet or if it is not smooth, there may be chances of bursting of seedai while frying in oil which is very dangerous. So we should be cautious while doing seedai. 
2. Soft Balls: We just need to roll the dough to the soft ball and not a very rigid ball as the air particles inside the dough try to come out while frying and if the ball is very rigid, it may burst in oil.
3. Dry Balls: After making small balls, leave it in the newspaper / plate to dry before dropping in oil. The wetness or the moisture in the ball tend to burst. 

Nutritional Info

Nutrition Facts

Uppu Seedai | Gokulashtami Recipes

Amount Per Serving (100 g)

Calories 284 Calories from Fat 423

% Daily Value*

Fat 47g72%

Carbohydrates 42g14%

Protein 7g14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Method with Step by Step Pictures :

• Soak the gram dal(channa dal) in water for 10 minutes.
• Homemade rice flour is the best option for seedai than the store bought rice flour. The ratio of rice flour to urid dal flour is 11:1 (I have used ladle, so for 11 ladles of rice flour, we need to add 1 ladle of urid dal flour. You can use cup, tumbler or even spoon). We need to use the right ratio other wise the seedai will not turn out good. The more uriddal flour, seedai would be dark colour. Lesser urid dal flour results in very light color. So please maintain the ratio. Pass the rice flour and urid dal flour through the sieve atleast twice to make sure they are perfectly smooth. Take a bowl and add the flours along with butter, grated coconut, hing, salt and the soaked and drained gram dal and mix well with your hand so that all are nicely mixed up

• Then sprinkle water little by little and knead them to a smooth and stiff dough. Do not add more water and make the dough sticky. The dough should be stiff. Then grease your fingers and palm with oil and take small quantity of dough and roll it to a tiny ball. Do this for rest of the dough. Allow the seedai dough balls in the newspaper / plastic sheet / cloth for atleast 5-10 minutes to dry.

• Heat oil in a pan. Check if the oil is hot enough to raise the seedai immediately by dropping a seedai. When it raises immediately, then our oil is ready. Take the tiny dough balls in batches. Do not overload the oil with more seedai. Drop 20-30 balls at a time and deep fry them till they turn golden brown color and crispy. Remove the crispy seedai from the pan and place it in a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the step for the rest of the seedai balls.

• Now the crispy, crunchy and tasty Uppu Seedai is now ready for neivedhyam or for serving!

Uppu Seedai / Salt Seedai

Sowmya Venkatachalam

IT Engineer turned full time Food Blogger. I ♡ FOOD. I also love food blogging. Did you make a recipe? Tag @Subbusktichen on Instagram. I WANNA SEE!