Vella Aval is an Indian sweet made with flattened rice called Aval, jaggery and coconut. We usually prepare it as an offering to Lord Krishna during Janmashtami.
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Vella Aval
Vella Aval is an Indian Sweet made with Aval, powdered jaggery and grated coconut.
It is a quick sweet made during Indian festivals, especially during Krishna Janmashtami, as aval is considered one of Lord Krishna’s favourite foods.
Vella Aval is one of the easiest naivedyam or prasadam dish you can prepare for Gokulashtami or any Indian festival.
Ingredients for Vella Aval
Aval – There are several varieties of Aval available in the market and any of them is suitable for this recipe. I use the medium-sized thick variety. I usually use just one cup (180g) of aval which suffices the three of us when we eat it as prasadam. You may also use the red rice poha which will give a nuttier flavour to the Vella Aval.
Jaggery – I prefer using powdered jaggery, as it requires minimal processing. If you are using the traditional jaggery, cut or grate the jaggery cube until you have 3/4 cup. This variety of jaggery will have impurities and will need to be filtering before using it for the sweet.
Grated Coconut – adding grated coconut gives the sweet volume and makes it sweeter and healthier too. The nutty flavour from grated coconut adds a special taste in Vella aval.
Cardamom Powder – You can use cardamom powder or just take 3-4 cardamom pods and pound it with a mortal and pestle until you have the black seeds in a coarse powder.
Ghee – No sweet is complete without ghee and this recipe is no exception. You can use one to two tablespoons of ghee for 1 cup of aval.
Optional ingredient – If you have access to edible camphor, you can use a tiny pinch of it in the end. Edible camphor gives a unique flavour-smell and personally always reminds me of sweets and festivals.
How to make Vella Aval/ Jaggery Poha
Prep Work
Poha / Aval – Take one cup of aval and rinse it in water several times. I generally take Poha in a sieve and run it under water until the water is clear. I then leave the aval in the sieve for all the water to drain. If I feel that poha is not soft, I run it under water a couple more times or sprinkle water on top of it.
Another method is to soak the aval in water for 5-10 minutes and drain the water once soft. I do not do this because there is a risk of the aval getting too soft. I prefer to have a little bite when I eat poha.
If you are using the thin variety of aval, you can soak it for less than 5 minutes and it will be soft. Its better to not get the aval too mushy.
Jaggery – If using a block of jaggery, cut the jaggery into small pieces or grate is until you have 3/4 cup of jaggery pieces. This variety of jaggery usually contains impurities that need to be filtered before using it in the sweet.
Place a pan on low-medium heat and add 1/4 cup of water. Add the jaggery pieces and allow it melt. Once all the pieces have melted, turn off the flame and filter out the impurities with a tea strainer and keep the liquid jaggery aside.
If you are using powdered jaggery, you need not need to do the above process. You can use powdered jaggery directly in sweets because it mostly has no impurities.
Coconut – If you do not have grated coconut ready, please break open a coconut and grate until you have 3/4 cup.
Cardamom Powder – If you are using cardamom pods, take 3-4 pods, open the shell and remove the black seeds from it. You can then pound the black seeds until you have a coarse powder.
Preparing the Vella Aval
Place a pan on low-medium heat and add 1/4 cup of water and powdered jaggery. If you are using the prepared jaggery liquid, add it directly to the pan.
Allow this jaggery to thicken slowly over low heat. This should take less than 8-10 minutes and it should look like a syrup. You can go one step further and check if the jaggery syrup has one string consistency. The jaggery syrup should appear thick and syrupy like honey.
At this stage, add the grated coconut, mix well.
Next, you can add the soaked poha and mix these three ingredients very well.
Finally, sprinkle the cardamom powder and pour as much ghee as you want on top and mix well together.
If you are adding edible camphor, take a very minute piece and mix that too. Edible camphor has an intense taste, so the smaller the piece, the better. Otherwise, the taste and smell will overwhelm all the other tastes.
Some people garnish with fresh grated coconut on top of the vella aval too, it adds a nice freshness to the Poha.
For the Beginners
If you are a beginner or making Vella Aval for the first time, you have nothing to fear. I would definitely suggest using powdered jaggery to simplify the process. Don’t worry about the string consistency I’ve mentioned in the recipe. Just reduce the jaggery liquid until it’s thick, this will prevent the poha from getting soggy.
If you do not have access to grated coconut, that’s fine. You can make this recipe with jaggery powder and poha too. The other ingredients enhance the flavour a lot more, you can add them the next time.
Shelf Life and Storage
You can prepare Vella Aval and store in the fridge up to 4-5 days. I like to eat it cold, but you can warm it up after leaving it out of the fridge for 20 minutes.
Vella Aval preserves well because it has both ghee and jaggery.
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Recipe
Vella Aval
Ingredients
- 1 cup Aval (180 -200g)
- 3/4 cup Powdered Jaggery (130-150 g)
- 3/4 cup Grated Coconut
- 1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
- 2 tbsp Ghee
Instructions
- Rinse and soak Aval in water to soften it up. The aval should be soft within 10-15 minutes. I generally rinse the poha thoroughly by running it under water for a few minutes and allowing the water to drain in a sieve.
- Place a pan on low heat, add 1/4 cup water followed by the powdered jaggery. Use the back of the spoon to split any lumps of the powdered jaggery.
- Allow this jaggery to thicken up but make sure the heat is low-medium since you do not want the sugars in the jaggery to harden rapidly.
- The jaggery is ready when most of the water has evaporated. You may also check for 1 string consistency – but be careful, the jaggery syrup will be extremely hot.
- Add the grated coconut and mix well.
- Next, add the soaked aval to the pan. Make sure the flame is on low heat. Mix well.
- Sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder and 1-2 tablespoons of ghee and mix well the ingredients well.
- Your Vella Aval is ready!
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