Recipe updated with video
Vella Cheedai| Vella Seedai recipe is a very popular sweet made during Gokulashtami/Krishna Jayanthi in Tamil Nadu, Deep-fried sweet balls made of jaggery and rice flour.. For a long time, I found making Vella Cheedai quite tricky as I failed many a times while trying to make them. Either the vella cheedais would become hard or completely dissolve when immersed in oil. Last Saturday, all of a sudden, I thought of giving this vella cheedai a try once again. It started off well and just when I started adding the cheedais in oil, the whole thing turned into a disaster. No marks for guessing that the cheedais got completely dissolved in oil. Though I felt a little bad, I did not give up and made a fresh batch after taking a few tips from my friend’s mother. I was overjoyed on getting perfect vella seedais and now I can happily say that I can make vella cheedais with ease. I have updated the recipe with Video. I have also posted a salted version of these cheedais.  Check out my uppu seedai recipe .  Check out my full collection of Janmashtami | Krishna jayanthi recipes.  Do see this post with detailed tips and tricks on making seedai with a video by my mom. 
  Preparation Time : 45  mins | Cooking Time :1 hour  | Makes: 40 seedais approx.
      Home made rice flour   1 cup      Roasted urad dal flour  1 tblsp      Jaggery   1/2 cup      Butter   2 tblsp      Sesame seeds   1 tsp      Grated coconut   2 tblsp      Elachi powder  a pinch      Oil    for deep frying      Ghee  1/2 tsp                                Video for vella seedai 
                                     
Method: To make  Urad dal  flour:
- Dry roast 4 tblsp of urad dhal in a pan.
- Just roast till golden brown.
- When it is cool, make it a fine powder in a mixie.
- Sieve the flour twice.
- Keep the flour in a airtight container till you use.
- Roast the rice flour and urad dal flour in a dry pan on low flame . Be careful not to change the colour. Roast for 1-2 mins.
- Sieve this flour and roast it again.
- Repeat this process twice.
- Be very careful not to over roast the flour by changing the colour.
- Keep it aside.
To make Vella Seedai:
- In a dry pan roast the sesame seeds  till they become golden brown colour. Add it to the sieved flour.
- In a dry pan roast the coconut till they become golden brown colour. Add it to the sieved flour.
- Add butter and cardamom powder to this.
- In a saucepan add the jaggery and add 2 tblsp of water to this.
- Melt the jaggery and boil till it comes to a rolling boil.
- Switch off the flame and slowly filter the jaggery water and add it to the flour mixture and mix this gently with the spoon.
- Make it into a pliable tight dough.
- Either you may end up in leaving a few tblsp of jaggery water or you may tend to add 2-3 tblsp of water to make it a tight dough.
- I added 2 tblsp of water to make it into a dough.
- Roll them into a small balls( slightly bigger than uppu seedai)
- spread them in a Kitchen towel or a newspaper as it will absorb the excess moisture.Let this sit for 10 minutes.
- Heat the oil for deep frying.
- Slowly drop the seedai balls in oil in small batches.
- Do not add too much in oil at a time
- Keep the flame in medium low else it will not get cooked inside.
- When it becomes nice brown color take out and drain in the kitchen towel.
- Repeat the same process for the rest of the dough.
- When it is completely cool store this in a airtight container.
- It is common to get cracks in vella seedai after it is fried.
Tips for making perfect vella seedai:
- Always roast the flour and sieve them twice. This will avoid the seedai from bursting.
- If the jaggery is too much and the dough is little soft the seedai will dissolve in oil once you drop them.
- So always ensure that the dough is tight. Even you are left with a few spoons of jaggery water doesn’t matter.
- Never skip to roast the sesame seeds and coconut.
- You can use the store bought rice flour too.
- Always cook the Vella seedai in low flame so that it will be cooked from inside too.
