Crunchy nibbles? Pebbles of crunchy heaven?? Small savory balls??? I usually try to translate dishes which summarizes the full meaning of the original titles of the original dish. I do this since everyone across regions can understand what it is all about. But how exactly do you translate Seedai/Cheedai? The word “Uppu” in tamil translates to “Salt” to depict the savory version of this dish since a sweet version exists. And what does Cheedai mean? No Idea! But what  I can tell you for sure is that “You can’t stop eating with just one!”

It is little time consuming to make, but take it from me – its worth all the effort. I especially miss not being in India this month! My mother has already made quite a few sweets for the upcoming Krishna Jayanthi – Indian festival celebrating the birthday of our God Krishna and flaunting it all over my face! I literally drooled yesterday when she was telling me about the sweets she made!!!!!!

Although me and my better half do not have even one sweet tooth, we do appreciate savory ones and I had no excuse not to make these. This traditional savory snack made esp. during Krishna Jayanthi is one of my all time favorite. My mother used to make 2-3 varieties of snacks simultaneously and usually the task of rolling out the dough into small rounds would fall in my hands. I would either sit next to her and roll it out while sharing some anecdotes, or sit in front of the TV (which would be full of interesting programs thanks to the festivities) and do it while watching it. Do it yourself or give it to the kids – but don’t even think of not making it – its too good to pass.

Mix all the ingredients together

Add water tablespoon by tablespoon and form it into one tight dough. Too much water will spoil it – so be careful about the water.

Take a slightly damp and clean towel or even damp paper towel. Lay it on the ground. Take a very little piece of the dough and roll using your palms into a small round – a little bigger than peas, roughly the shape of small marbles. (see notes below)

Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a bunch of these small balls into the oil and let them deep fry.

Move it v slightly so that they don’t bunch up together. They will come up and will be full of bubbles while cooking

Slowly it will come up on the surface and the bubbles will also cease. You can either make them deep red and keep them slightly golden yellow. Your preference.

Remove and place it on a paper towel to drain of excess oil.

Cool and store in a air tight container. They keep very well. But one warning though – they are highly ADDICTIVE!

Important Notes :  Why does Seedai/ Cheedai Burst ? – Possible Reasons and tips

1) Make sure that if you are making your own Urad Dal flour, that you grind it very fine. Even a little coarse grain will make these balls burst out in the oil while deep frying. Ditto for Rice flour. Sieve/Sift them well before making it into a dough

2) Another thing to keep in mind to avoid them bursting like crackers while frying is to roll it out lightly and not tightly. If too tight, the air gets trapped and while deep frying it expands and air tries to escape which causes them to burst out. Believe me – you don’t want oil splattered all over your kitchen!

3) Using excess water/ frozen grated coconut (thaw it well and reduce water to make the dough) can also cause the seedai’s to burst. Knead the dough well before rolling them out lightly.

At least these are ones I know – if you know of any other reasons for the bursting and tricks to avoid it happening, do share it with me in the comment section. Will add it to the list

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