Salt Seedai

Its Gokulashtami and none of the Krishna pooja is complete without this savoury snack in most of the south indian homes. Many of them are familiar with this snack and still many of them are frightened to try out seedais as they might burst.
As far as I know and have been told by my grandmother, seedais burst for a few reasons. In those days people used sea salt also known as " kal uppu" or "khada namak". As this salt contained impurities they would burst in the oil. The sea salt had to be dissolved in water and then mixed in the dough. If it would not be dissolved completely, then it would burst.
Next reason is the sesame seeds. In India we would buy ingredients in loose i.e. not the packaged ones. These non packaged items would contain mud or small stones or other impurities. Hence the sesame seed would be washed and rinsed and then dried in shade and then used in making snacks.
The other thing to my knowledge is the water content in the dough. The dough should be kneaded nicely and then the small balls of seedais are to be rolled with the fingertips just to the extent that they form a ball. They are not to be rolled tightly into perfect circular balls as these balls need some space for the steam to escape while frying.
After marriage, I did not take the trouble to process the rice flour as I had no patience and the time to do it and after all I was alone. I used store bought rice flour and other ingredients and they still came out as good as my patty's seedai. I would like to share this simple recipe with others and I'm sure u will not go wrong with it.

Ingredients :

1 cup rice flour
1 tsp. roasted urad flour
2 tbsp. butter ( room temp.)
1 tsp. sesame seeds
3 tbsp. grated fresh coconut
1/2 tsp. asafoetida powder
Salt to taste ( add very little, knead the dough and then add if necessary )

Method :

1. Roast the rice flour in a pan till hot. ( When u touch the flour it should be bearable hot )
2. Roast 1/2 cup of urad dal or whole urad till pink. Cool completely and grind in the mixie. Seive and keep the smooth flour. One can keep this roasted urad flour for a month and use it to make other savoury snacks too.
3. After both the flours have completely cooled down, take the specified quantity of flours, add sesame seeds, coconut gratings, asafoetida, salt and butter and mix will with fingertips till the butter is dispersed in the flour.
4. Sprinkle water little by little and knead into a soft dough.
5. Take a little part of the dough and start making small balls of marble size with ur fingertips lightly and spread on a clean cotton cloth.
6. After u have rolled out all the dough, heat oil in a kadai to medium hot, add a handful of the balls to the hot oil and fry till light pink in colour. Remove from oil and allow to cool and store in air tight container.
(If u r frightened that the seedais might burst, put a handful in the oil and move away from the oil for a minute or two and then u can return and fry them with a ladle.)