Sweet somas are a type of Indian dessert made with a sweet filling, usually consisting of a mixture of jaggery (a type of unrefined sugar) or sugar and coconut. The filling is then wrapped in a dough made with maida flour and fried until cooked. Sweet somas are often made during festivals and special occasions in India, and they have a deliciously sweet and slightly chewy texture.
Sweet Somasa
6
servings10
minutes20
minutesLearn how to make delicious and crispy somas with this easy recipe. With ingredients like maida, pottukadalai, and coconut gratings, these somas are the perfect treat for any occasion.
Ingredients
Maida – 2 cups
Oil or butter – 3 to 4 tablespoons
Roasted Gram (Pottukadalai) – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Coconut gratings – 1/2 cup
Khus Khus – 2 to 3 tablespoons
Cardamom Powder – 1 teaspoon
Salt – a pinch
Oil for deep frying
Directions
- Place maida in a large mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and some butter or oil, then gradually mix in water to form a soft dough. Set the dough aside for later use.
- Grind pottukadalai (roasted gram) to a fine powder and do the same with the sugar, then combine them both in a bowl.
- In a kadai, lightly toast the khus khus (poppy seeds) until they just start to change color. Remove from the kadai and grind them into a coarse powder.
- Using the same kadai, fry the coconut gratings until they turn a light brown color. Add the toasted coconut to the bowl with the pottukadalai and sugar mixture. Incorporate the powdered khus khus and cardamom powder as well. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly to create the filling.
- Take a large gooseberry-sized piece of dough and roll it out into a thin circle, similar to a poori. Place one teaspoon of the pottukadalai mixture in the center of the circle. Fold the dough over to form a half-moon shape, and seal the edges by pressing them together with a bit of water. For a decorative edge, you can crimp the edges using a somas spoon, which has a small wheel cutter. If you don’t have this spoon, the edges can be left as they are, or you can use somas or kozhukattai moulds to shape the somas. Continue this process until all the dough is used.
- Heat oil in a kadai over medium heat. Once hot, fry two or three somas at a time, until they are a light golden brown color.
- Serve the crispy somas warm and enjoy!
hi kamala..you have missed out sugar in the preparation..when do we have to add sugar to the mix?
Hi,
Welcome to my site. Thank you for pointing out. You can add alongwith powdered pottukadai as it is or powder the sugar separately and add to the pottukadalai powder.
We have tried thisdish but the somas gets soft after some time,, It doesn't stay crisp. Can you help with this
Hi Sashi,
The dough should be little harder than the chapati dough, i.e. the dough should not contain more water. You have to keep the dough for atleast one hour and then again you have knead it well. In fact the dough be pounded by a pestal. You have to roll it to a very thin circle. Then you have to dry the somas for few minutes so that there will not be any water content. When you are frying, you have to keep the stove to medium and cook till it is crisp. The sweet somas will stay crisp for weeks together.
Wow This is my mum’s recepie. I suppose this is the recepie of people living in TN . The stuffing differs between AP , Karnataka , Maharashtra and TN . Thanx a tonne . Please visit my blog http://recepiess.blogspot.com/2011/05/recepies.html . Its not as organized as yours but …
Dear mam I tried this for sterday. It came out very well. Especially the tips for making dough is useful. I am also from Thanjavur.
We add 1 spoon kasakasa in the pooranam
Thanks for the authentic receipe.