Aruppukottai Seeval

Aruppukottai Seeval – A deep fried crispy snack (a type of Ribbon pakoda) in Tamil Nadu. Recipe from ‘’ The Hindu’’ March 31, 2013 !!

Ingredients

1 cup / 200 ml (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) besan (kadala maavu)

1 cup / 200 ml rice flour

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)

½ cup water (to make  dough)

250 ml oil to deep fry

Method

In a bowl, mix rice flour, besan , red chilli powder, salt and hing. Add ½ cup water and make a soft dough. Sprinkle extra 1 – 2 tablespoon water if required to make a soft dough. It looks like chappati dough but is much softer than that.

Heat oil in a karahi / deep pan on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium.  These recipe steps are from The Hindu. Over it is placed a big seeval kattai (the grating board, which has an iron cutting board framed in solid wood or steel in which we can make banana chips or potato chips). The dough is slid up and down on the board and small flakes fall into the oil below. The flat and small ribbon-like pieces are deep fried till they turn golden brown in colour. Drain out from oil and place on kitchen towel / paper towels to absorb extra oil.

Seeval is best eaten when fresh. It has a shelf life of 10 days when stored in an air-tight container.