Seepu Palagaram/Seepu Seedai
Seepu Palagaram is a traditional snack made from rice flour, coconut milk and sugar. It is made by rolling the dough into balls, creating an impression with a comb (for design), and deep frying in oil. Hence the name 'seepu' ('comb' in Tamil) and palagaram ('snack' in Tamil). One of the most vivid memories I have of my visits to my paternal grandparents home in Jamestown is this seepu palagaram. About 90 percent of the time we visited them, my grandmother would serve these as a snack with our evening tea. Amusingly enough, I found the recipe in my mother's cookbook and wanted to give it a try right away. They came out great, instantly taking me back to those childhood memories of trips back to India during our summer vacations.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
coconut milk from 1/2 a coconut
750g sugar
4 tsp salt
Method:
Soak the rice in water for about 2 hrs.
Remove from the water and dry it on a towel (spread it in a thin layer) till it is moist. Do not allow it to dry all the way.
Powder it in a mixie or blender with the dry blade.
Sieve it to get a fine flour.
If there is a lot of residue in the sieve, powder it in the mixie and sieve again.
Roast the flour by sautéing it dry on a kadai or wok, be careful not to burn it. This process takes about 20-30 minutes.
Alternatively, the moist rice can also be taken to a rice mill where you can get it powdered and roasted (roasted rice flour is also available in grocery stores so there’s nothing to worry about if this process seems like a pain 🙂)
Combine the roasted flour and all the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. The texture of the dough should be soft but not sticky.
Roll the dough into balls and make impressions with a fork (You can use a clean 'seepu' as well, just like the olden days 😊).
Deep fry in oil over a high flame, till they brown. You will have to gently swish them around in the oil so that they brown evenly on all slides.
Drain over paper towels, and store in an airtight container, for up to a month.
Comments
Post a Comment