Making of rice vadam using banana leaf (Elai vadam)

How to make rice papad
Learn how to make elai vadam, rice vadam, which is made using banana leaf by steaming the rice batter. It is super thin, crispy, light and flavourful.

Ingredients

  • Rice - 1/2 kg (raw rice)
  • Salt - as needed
  • Cumin seeds  - 2 tsp heaped


  1. You will need a plate and cut a banana leaf in the same shape and size as the banana leaf, by inverting the plate over the banana leaf and running a knife to cut along the plate's  outline. Below you can see the wet rice batter and round shaped, cut banana leaf.
  2. Place the idli plate in inverted position. This way, it is easy to place the plate as well as easy to take the plate after steaming.
  3. Just placing the cooked papads in a mat near the kitchen, photo below: Drying vadam (papads) in sunlight.
  4. Vadam (rice papad) drying in our terrace sunlight.

Method:

  1. Soak boiled rice ( half kg )in water for 2 hours.
  2. Use clean drinking water and grind it very nicely (smooth). It should be like dosa batter for instant wheat dosa or maida dosa.
  3. Add required salt & 2 tea spoons of Jeeragam (cumin seeds) in the batter & mix it well.
  4. Cut banana leaf into round shape like a plate. Just 4 or 5 will do. This is to keep making the vadams while the one gets steamed, so that the work gets over soon.
  5. Keep 2 stainless steel plates  (over which leaf is placed & batter poured - watch the video).
  6. Now keep an idli cooker ready, with water boiling and then putting the flame to sim (low).
  7. Place the idli cooking plate in inverted position as shown in the photo.
  8. Only one plate should be used.
  9. Place the banana leaf in the stainless plate.Pour the rice flour over the leaf as shown in the video.
  10. Now place the leaf with the plate in the Idli cooker. Cook covered - one minute is sufficient.
  11. Meanwhile get ready with another leaf plate for placing in the cooker.
  12. Now open the cooker, take out the cooked vadam in the leaf along with the plate, keep it aside.
  13. Place another leaf plate in the cooker &cook it.
  14. Now you can remove the cooked vadam from the banana leaf by peeling as shown in the video slowly,without tearing it.
  15. You can place it one over other.It won't get stick together if you handle it gently.
  16. Banana leaf can be used more than 10 times.We prepared 35 pieces of vadam using 5 banana leaves.
  17. You can dry the papads in sunlight.Just 3 hours enough in this summer.You can also dry them in your spacious hall inside the home.
  18. Pappads will come out easily once got dried.
  19. Fry them in oil. Crisp & soft vadam ,you would comment.


This is how the fried arisi vadam looks (fried rice pappad).
Rice papad, arisi vadam

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