Unniyappam

Unniyappam is a very popular snack in Kerala. These cute sweet appams are prepared for most of the special occassions and celebrations. They are also made as ritual offering to some temples in Kerala especially Ganapathy temples. These are usually made using rice flour, jaggery and bananas. I used to have these appams a lot when I was a kid and its still one of my favourites. Yesterday I made these appams and they were vanishing in no time. My hubby just loved these and he had these appams more than my kid :)

What you need?

2 cups Rice Flour

11/4 cup Jaggery (increase or decrease as per your taste)

1 ripe large Banana

1/4 cup Milk 

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder

A pinch Salt

Ghee/Coconut oil

How to prepare?

Roast the rice flour slightly for a few minutes and keep aside.

Heat about 1/4 cup of water and melt the jaggery in it. Strain the impurities and let the syrup cool down.

Cut the banana into 2-3 pieces, grind in a blender along with a little water to get a smooth paste.

In a bowl, add the flour. Add the jaggery syrup to it and mix. Now add the banana paste, salt and cardamom powder and combine everything well with hands. You will get a very thick batter. Keep it aside for atleast 1-2 hours.This helps the appams to become very soft.

If the batter is very thick, add milk to it to make a batter with dropping consistency. Milk should be at room temperature.The final batter should be thicker than dosa batter.

Heat the paniyaram pan. Add generously some ghee or coconut oil in each hole. When the oil is hot, pour some batter in each of the holes. Let the appams cook at medium flame. Once one side turns golden brown, slowly flip it with a spoon and let it get browned on other side too. Remove the unniyappams and place on a paper towel. Let them cool before serving.

Notes:

*You can also use wheat flour instead of rice flour.

*You can also add some some dry coconut pieces to the batter after frying in ghee or oil.

*It's best to consume at the earliest when its fresh. Refrigerating might make the appams hard.