UnniAppam -Small Ricecake

Dear Friends,you know this is my 50th post. I am so happy because i got a good chance to share some of my cooking experiences with you through this blogging and also i got so many culinary ideas from my fellow bloggers..And i am sure i reached upto this 50th post not only because of my efforts but also the support i got from my fellow bloggers and readers.I am thankful to each and everyone who came here and spent their valuable time to read and leave their comments on each post.

Another good news is that my fellow blogger Nithu added me in her latest guest post.If you have time pls visit here

http://www.nithubala.com/2010/03/guest-post-4-todays-guest-prani.html

Today i am going to celebrate my 50th post by sharing with you something special. It is a Kerala's favorite snack: "Unniappam". Unni in malayalam means small..So it means small appam (ricecake)..

When we moved to US, i couldn't prepare this snack because I didn't bring that mould (appa-chatty). Yes, we need a special mould for preparing this dish ..I was searching for something similar to appa-chatty here in different shops but i didn't get one. One day I happened to see an ad on TV about Pan-Cake Puff maker. I realized that I can use that one  for preparing Unniappam  ..Finally i got that from Target. This pancake puff maker is exact same as our traditional appam chatti.

I always remember  Sabarimala, vinayaka temple, our festivals like onam and celebrations like wedding while  preparing these kind of snacks..In my school days these were our favorites evening snacks: Unniappam, neyyappam, achappm and PazhamPori...My husband is a big fan of these snacks. Having this kind of snacks is really enjoyable.

cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
kerala kuthari Rice or Rosematta rice: 2 cup
Jaggery: 1 cup
Coconut slices: 5 piece
Ghee: 2 tbsp
Cardamom: 4 nos
Baking powder: 1/4 tsp
Ripe banana: 3 nos
Oil: 5 tbsp
The utensil used 
Unniappam maker(Here i used the Pancake Puff maker)

Preparation

1. Soak the rice 4-5 hours
2. Cut the coconut slices into small pieces and fry them into the ghee until get nice brown color
3. Make a nice powder of the cardamom
4. Coarse grind the soaked rice ..(add very less amount of water while grinding)
5. add the jaggery and ripe banana(cut them into small pieces) into the rice mix.and  grind them and make a nice batter.
6. Add the cardamom powder and coconut pieces into the batter and mix  well
7. Heat the appa-chatty(PanCake Puff Maker) ,once it get heated add the oil into each well in the mould.
8. pour the batter into each well and let it fry .. 
9. once the sides are getting to come out, flip them into other side and fry until nice brown color

•  Take one by one unniappam from the maker (use a stick)
•  Place them into a kitchen towel so that u can remove the excess oil from them.

The delicious unniappam is ready to serve..have it with hot tea..

While cooking we may confuse:
About the consistency of the batter.

       The consistency of the batter should be same as the idli batter..While grinding the rice do not add excess water..Once u add the jaggery into the rice mix, it will get loosen,while adding the banana the batter will be come into the right consistency..If u feel the batter is too loose then just add some more rice flour(heat the rice flour before adding)

How much batter should be adding into the appam maker

        Fill wells 3/4 full with batter..otherwise once it get fried it will puff up  and the exact shape won't come.

When to change the side

       While frying u can see the batter is coming out from the well that time using a stick just flip it .
Cook's tip

• If you use Kerala kuthari/Rosematta rice gives more taste.
• If you are not adding baking powder,make the batter and keep it for 4-5 hours(for fermentation).then only prepare the unniappam otherwise it won't puff up.
• You can also use the rice flour .It is easy because no need to soak and grind the rice.

Sending this to sunday snacks-Healthy snacks event hosted by Divya