Unniappam

Ingredients(Makes 25-30 based on the size of the pan):

Rice Flour             --   1 cup
Ripe bananas      --   2 small ones/cherupazham - If using yellow robesta, use 1 ripe banana.
Jaggery                 --   300 gm
Maida / APF        --   2 tbsp
Baking Powder     --   ¼ tsp
Sesame seeds      --  1 tbsp
Coconut bits        --  1 tbsp (I used cashew nuts in bite size)
Ghee                        --  2 tbsp
Oil                            --  As required for deep frying - preferably coconut oil or ghee

Preparation of unniappams:

Melt jaggery with ¼ cup of water. Strain to remove any impurities and keep aside.Let it cool to a slight warm temperature.

Meanwhile mash the bananas and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and fry the coconut pieces/nuts until slight brown. Add the sesame seeds and switch off the flame. Sesame seeds gets fried in the hot pan. Keep it aside.

  

    

Add the flours and baking soda to the warm jaggery syrup and mix well without any lumps. Hand works better here in place of ladles and spoons.Add the mashed banana and mix well. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of ghee and the fried coconut/nuts and the sesame seeds.

The batter should be in the consistency of dosa batter or condensed milk. You should be able to continuously pour it without breaking the line.

Add water / milk to adjust the batter to reach the above consistency. It is always better to add water / milk little by little to make sure you do not over do.

Keep it aside for 1 hour (optional). This helps to make the appams softer.

Place the unniappam pan on the stove and pour coconut oil into each rounds until they are half full. Heat the oil on a high flame and then reduce it to medium before you pour the batter.

 

    

Pour batter in a round until it is ¾ full. Remember, the batter should flow into one round without any breaks in between. Take a break and go to the next round.

Let it cook on one side and once the appams are firm turn around with the a metal/wooden skewer to cook the other side to a golden colour. Once it gets browned on both the sides remove it from the pan using a fork / skewer / spoon.

  

Here comes my moms trick to drain the oil. Keep a steel plate in a slanting position and place the appams on the higher part when removed from the pan. You can see oil flowing down. Once they are cool, transfer it on to a kitched towel to drain completely.  When preparing in large junks, my mom reuses the oil flowing down the unniappams.

Pour oil in the rounds whenever you feel necessary.

Snack anytime - be it breakfast or evening tea or let it be a dessert after a great lunch / dinner :). It stays good for 2 - 3 days @ room temperature and for a week or more in the refrigerator. If you store in the refrigerator, heat in a microwave for few seconds before you serve to get the soft unniappams.

Recipe Courtesy: Amma