Ela Ada With Chakka Varatti, Steamed Rice Parcels With Jackfruit Preserve

          After making Chakka Varatti/Jackfruit Preserve, I was waiting to try out Ela Ada, when I say waiting, I really mean it because where I stay in Bangalore, I don't easily get banana leaves, except might be on festival days. I had to tell the flower lady to get me some and then I finally got after a week. Though we can use just coconut and jaggery filling, I wanted to make the Ela Ada with Chakka Varatti. Once you have the Chakka Varatti ready, then making these Ela Adas is not a big task. We can even use parchment paper for making these adas, but the banana leaf gives a unique flavor to the dish. The finished dish tasted awesome, close in taste to kozhukattais and my family loved it..

Need To Have

• Idli Rice/Parboiled Rice - 1/3 cup
• Raw Rice - 1/3 cup
• Salt - a pinch
• Banana leaves for making the Ela Ada - 3 to 4

For The Filling

• Chakka Varatti - 1/2 cup
• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Jaggery Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Cardamom - 1 

Referred the recipe from here and here

Method

          Soak both the rice for about 4 to 5 hours, then grind it into a smooth paste. Mix in the pinch of salt and the batter should be like a thick pancake batter. Measure out the chakka varatti and keep.

          Melt the jaggery in 4 tablespoons of water, strain it for impurities and add it back to the pan. Add the coconut, chakka varatti and mix it well, once the chakka varatti is mixed properly, keep mixing and cook till it becomes thick, mix in the cardamom ( powder the inner pods ) powder and remove, the filling is ready.

          Take the banana leaf, remove the middle vein, cut into rectangular pieces, then toast the leaves slightly on a hot tawa. This makes the leaves flexible, so that they don't break when folding them into parcels.

          Take a leaf, grease it with some ghee, take a small ladle of batter, spread it, spread the filling till the edges on one side. Fold the leak halfway, then fold the edges and fold it one more time to make a parcel. Repeat with the rest of the batter and filling.

          Steam the parcels in a steamer or idli maker for about 15 minutes and remove. When it's cool enough to handle, open the leaf parcel and enjoy.

Note
Spread the batter as thin as possible and the batter should be thick and not watery.
Spread the filling till the edges so that the ela ada will have the filling all over.
If you don't have chakka varatti, use just the coconut and jaggery and make the filling.