Vettu Cake - Fried Cross Cake

I never used to visit kitchen during my childhood and thought that cooking is an easy task. During every Christmas, my mom used to make a fried cake called 'Vettu Cake' and it was my brother who used to help her out.  Recently at my parents' place, when I tried making this, I failed miserably and mom came to help me out! We both remembered how I used to crawl away from kitchen and dad was surprised to see me taking initiatives in preparing food.

Vettu Cake is very popular in Kerala due to its presence in 'Chayakadas' or tea stalls. Tea Stalls in Kerala is a gathering place for local people as well as podiums for long discussions on politics or current affairs. As these discussions get heated up and more and more people will join and the number of teas consumed will go up drastically along with snacks like pazhampori, uzhunnu vada, parippu vada and all.

Now, let me tell you how did I finally learn to make decent Vettu Cakes.

Ingredients

1. Maida / All purpose flour - 200 gm
2. Cardamom Powder- 1 teaspoon
3. Baking Soda - a pinch
4. Egg - 2
5. Sugar - 6 table spoons
6. Oil - For frying.

How to Make?

1. Mix flour and cardamom powder well and keep aside.
2. Beat eggs with sugar and baking soda.
3. Gradually add mixture from Step # 2 with flour and keep mixing.
4. The consistency of the flour should be such that it is easy to knead, like you make for chappathi. While doing this, you may need to apply some oil on your palms , so that flour won't stick to your hands.
5. Knead the flour and then roll out . I used an aluminium foil to roll out. It helped me to roll it out smoothly. For rolling, you needn't take the entire flour, you can take part by part ( the size of the cake you want).
6. Gently press the rolled out flour, so that it forms a rectangular shape.
7. Make a soft cut on the rectangular piece.
8. Heat oil in a pan for frying. The temperature should be maintained at medium level, so that the cakes are fried evenly.
9. Drop the shaped flour one by one and take it out once it attains a golden brown color.

Enjoy with hot tea. You can store it in air tight containers and use up to a week.