Ela Ada is a Kerala sweet of soft rice-flour dough spread thin on a banana leaf, filled with grated coconut cooked in jaggery and cardamom, then folded in the leaf and steamed. 'Ela' means leaf - the banana leaf both shapes the parcel and perfumes it. It's a classic tea-time sweet and naturally vegan.

How is Ela Ada related to Kozhi Ada?

They share the word 'ada' - a steamed or folded preparation. Ela Ada is the sweet, vegetarian, banana-leaf-steamed version with coconut-jaggery filling; Kozhi Ada is the savoury Malabar version with a spiced chicken filling, pan-finished rather than leaf-steamed.

Can I make Ela Ada without banana leaf?

The banana leaf is traditional and adds aroma, but you can spread and fold the dough on a greased parchment or a plate and steam it. You lose the leaf perfume but the ada itself is the same.

It's steamed, not fried, and uses jaggery rather than refined sugar, with no dairy - making it one of the lighter Kerala sweets. As with any jaggery sweet, enjoy in moderation.

Ela Ada recipe (Kerala steamed rice parcel)

The other ada

If Kozhi Ada is the savoury, pan-finished ada, Ela Ada is the sweet, leaf-steamed one - same family, opposite ends of the meal. The banana leaf is worth the small effort: it perfumes the rice dough in a way nothing else replicates.

The recipe