Ela Ada | Sweet Coconut Parcels
Learn how to make easy Ela Ada without banana leaf and treat yourself to Kerala's traditional rice flour parcels stuffed with sweet coconut.
Servings: 12 parcels
Calories: 163.59kcal
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- ¼ cup chana dal soaked for couple of hours
- ¾ cup grated coconut
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1 mini shallots sliced
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- salt to taste
For the Dough:
- 1¼ cup rice flour
- 1¼ cup water approx
- salt to taste
- Oil to grease the pan and palms
Instructions
Prepare the ada filling:
- Pressure cook the chana dal with salt and water until done. It should retain its shape. Once pressure cools, open and drain the cooked lentils. (You can use the liquid in soups or curries)¼ cup chana dal
- Heat ghee in a pan and saute the sliced shallot on a low flame until translucent.1 teaspoon ghee, 1 mini shallots
- Add the grated coconut and sugar. Keep stirring until the sugar is completely melted.¾ cup grated coconut, 6 tablespoons sugar
- Once the sugar is melted, add the lentils and stir well until the mixture comes together. Stir in some salt and ground cardamom. Adjust salt, sugar, and cardamom as per your taste and keep this aside to cool completely.¼ teaspoon cardamom powder, salt to taste
Prepare the dough:
- In a large bowl, combine the rice flour and salt and gradually add water and mix it until it forms a dough that is easy to handle. It should not be sticky or watery, you should be able to make balls. The number of balls depends on the size of the parcel that you are planning to make. Smaller balls, a little stuffing, or bigger balls and more stuffing.1¼ cup rice flour, 1¼ cup water, salt to taste
Prepare the Ela Ada:
- Tear a baking paper into four squares and use two. You may use a zip lock bag or freezer bag or any plastic sheets like milk packets etc.
- Divide the dough into equal-sized balls. Take one dough ball and make it smooth by rolling it between your greased palms.Oil to grease
- Place it in the centre of a baking paper square and cover this with another piece.
- Use a rolling pin to carefully roll the dough into a round shape (you can move the stack to get the shape)
- Remove the top sheet and place some filling on one side of the rolled dough (leave space around the border) and bring the other corner of the sheet to close the parcel. Now you will have a semicircle, half-moon-shaped ada. Refer to the pictures.
- Press along the edges to seal the parcel and ensure there is no opening.
- Open the sheet and carefully release the parcel and place it on the steamer. Repeat to make as many parcels as your steamer can hold.
- Steam for 10 minutes or until cooked. You can check for the firmness of the dough to ensure it is cooked.
- Store in a hot pack and serve warm with a cup of chai. To reheat, you have to steam for a few minutes only, other ways of reheating will make it dry.
Notes
You will need a large freezer bag or baking paper to shape the ada.
Steamer or idli maker to cook the parcels.
Nutrition
Serving: 1parcel | Calories: 163.59kcal | Carbohydrates: 24.12g | Protein: 2.32g | Fat: 7.03g
