wellhealthorganic.com Unni Appam: Unniyappam, delightful sweet fritters originating from Kerala cuisine, boast a delightful blend of rice, banana, select spices, and coconut.
Unni Appam
Preparation Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes
Cuisine: Kerala, South Indian
Course: Sweets
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ingredients:
For Soaking Rice:
- 1 cup rice or 200 grams (any short-grained rice)
- Water, as required
For Frying Coconut:
- ½ tablespoon oil (for frying coconut)
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coconut
- Other Ingredients for Unniyappam:
- 2 medium-sized bananas or 175 grams (with peel) or ¾ cup chopped bananas
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- ½ cup jaggery powder, or as needed
- ¼ cup water, or as needed
- 3 to 4 green cardamoms
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon dry ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (you can also use ⅛ teaspoon, about 2 pinches)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon coconut oil or ghee for each mould
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Instructions:
Soaking Rice:
- Rinse 1 cup of rice thoroughly in water and soak it in enough water for 3 to 4 hours. Overnight soaking is also an option.
- After soaking, drain the water and transfer the rice to a grinder jar.
- Add ¾ cup of chopped bananas, ½ cup jaggery powder, and seeds from 3 to 4 green cardamoms.
- For extra sweetness, adjust jaggery to ¾ cup.
- Add ¼ cup water or as required.
- Grind until the mixture attains a fine rava-like consistency, ensuring the batter is semi-fine. Transfer the batter to a separate bowl.
Frying Coconut:
- Heat ½ tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee in a small pan.
- Add 3 tablespoons of chopped coconut pieces and fry until they turn golden, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer the fried coconut pieces along with the remaining oil to the batter.
Making Unniyappam Batter:
- To the batter, add 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon dry ginger powder, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda. Add a pinch of salt if desired.
- Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
Making Unniyappam:
- Heat the appe chatti pan and add ½ to 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in each mould over low flame.
- Once the oil is hot, pour batter into the chatti moulds using a spoon, filling them up to ¾ full.
- Cook on low to medium-low flame until the base turns golden and crisp.
- Flip each unniyapam using a wooden skewer or stick, ensuring even cooking.
- Once golden and crisp on all sides, transfer the unniappams to kitchen paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Repeat the process with the remaining batter. If there’s oil residue in the moulds, additional oil isn’t necessary.
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Serving:
- Serve unniyappam warm or at room temperature as a delightful sweet snack.
- Alternatively, keep them in a casserole to maintain warmth for a while.
- This recipe yields approximately 28 unniyappams, which stay fresh at room temperature for 1 to 2 days and can be refrigerated.
Notes:
- This recipe can be scaled up to make a larger batch.
- Adjust the amount of jaggery according to the sweetness of bananas and personal preference.
- Ghee can be used instead of coconut oil for frying the unniyappam.