Vettu cake - Fried dough balls

Vettu cake is a sweet snack from Kerala, India  and a childhood favorite. And I think it is available only in kollam (Quilon) but I am not sure. Back in the day, almost all the snack shops used to keep it but not anymore. Fancy items have replaced this old traditional tea time snack.

My joy knew no boundaries when I stumbled upon this recipe and I am not exaggerating here.  I am so glad to share it with you guys :)

The process is pretty much similar to a North American snack item, fried dough. An Italian variant is zeppole also known as fritters or doughnuts. Isn't that amazing?

So here goes the recipe.

Makes 10-12 medium size cakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup All-purpose flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp Baking powder

Pinch salt

6 tbsp.Sugar

1/2 tsp. Cardamom powder

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparation:

In a bowl, mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and cardamom powder.

Beat an egg and mix it with flour mixture and knead to make a smooth dough.  Use little water or milk if needed.

Cover and keep it aside for atleast 20 min.

Now make small dough balls and cross the top with a knife.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan.

To check if the oil is hot enough, just drop a pinch of dough into the oil and if it sizzles and comes to the top immediately, your oil is ready.

Drop the dough balls one by one. Don’t overcrowd the pan.

Deep fry in medium heat (in high heat top will burn but won't cook properly)

Transfer to a tissue lined bowl to absorb excess oil.

Store in air tight container.