Plantain pie, the mouth-watering ilayada, is a sweet delicacy from Kerala. Ilayada is the most simple and traditional delicacy that comes to mind when talking about Kerala cuisine. This is one of the most served breakfast on Onam day. I had mentioned about ila ada in one of my post (here). And I am telling that again!!!! Maybe you folks will get bored. But what to do…. Good old nostalgia is such a thing that we will always be hooked to and talk a lot about…
That subtle aroma spreading in the air when we open the rice cake parcels wrapped in banana leaves is one of the finest memory of my childhood Onam. The gluten-free plantain pie is made with rice flour and filling is made with ripe plantain, jaggery and coconut. And the aroma… Ohhhh that comes from the gorgeous cardamom that makes the sweet drool worthy.
Today, I’m going to share with you the recipe for the nostalgic gluten-free plantain pie. Unfortunately, I don’t have banana leaves!!!!. Yes, I’m going to share the recipe for Ilayada without ila (leaf). Friends,now I’m in that part of the world where it is very very difficult to find banana leaves. So forgive me….. But if we crave for this plantain pie, then what? Here is a better and resilient choice….. Use aluminium foil or parchment papers for banana leaves. Thank God, We have lots of foils and parchment papers here in the US 😉 All other things remain the same like kozhukatta, the coconut filled rice dumplings (recipe here).
Plantain Pie – Pazham Ada
Gluten-free Plantain Pie
Ingredients
For the crust dough
- 1.5 cup rice flour
- 1 2/3 cup water
- Salt to taste
For the filling
- 1 ripe plantain. peeled and chopped
- 3/4 cup jaggery powdered
- 5 tbsp shredded coconut
- 1 tbsp ghee clarified butter
- 3 cardamom powdered
- 4 aluminium foils 11x6 inch
Instructions
Prepare the filling
- Powder the cardamom.
- In a bowl, mix together plantain, jaggery, coconut, ghee and cardamom.
- The filling is ready. Keep aside.
Prepare the crust dough
- Dry fry the rice flour in a pan on medium low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously. Make sure not to burn the flour.
- Remove from heat. Keep aside.
- Mix together water and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Add the boiling water to the rice flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
- Let it sit for 2 minutes.
- When warm enough to handle, knead the dough( while still hot) to make a smooth ball.
- Divide the dough into four equal balls.
- Take one aluminium foil. Then roll the ball lengthwise (like a log).
- Place the dough log on the foil (demo in the video).
- Wet your fingers with water. Then gently press the dough with your finger tips in outward direction. Spread the dough on the foil to make a medium-thin layer (not too thin or too thick).
- Place 1.5 tbsp filling on one half of the dough layer.Then fold the foil in half.
- Seal the edges by pressing gently.
- Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
- Place the pies in a steamer. Steam cook for 20 minutes.
- Switch off the heat and let it cool before serving.
- The sweet plantain pie is ready.
Notes
Use any fillings you like.
Wet your finger tips if the dough feels sticky.
Don't try to roll using a rolling pin. The dough is very sticky and will stick to the pin.
Seal the edges so that the filling will not come out. Any way a little jaggery will ooze out. But that's ok. The pie will still be sweet.
A lot of variations are possible for this plantain pies. The filling can be anything you like. The usual fillings we use are the coconut-jaggery mix, sugar-coconut mix, or mango or jackfruit instead of ripe plantains. The pie crust can also be made with wheat flour but you don’t have to use boiled water (will be doing a post on that soon). You may try banana instead of plantain, but I’m not sure about the result. If you do, I hope you will let me know.
So, as you see, the recipe is so flexible, you can make it in your own way. So from now on, banana leaf is not an excuse for making these delicious Ilayadas. The Ilayada is also served as a snack along with tea in the evenings.
Other plantain recipes you might like:
Happy Cooking
