Nei Appam

Hello Friends!

Last year on this day, I sat down and gingerly wrote my first post!  And today after a year I am writing my 120^th post. The journey thus far has been wonderful with lots of new friends, searching for new recipes, experimenting with them, capturing them and so on. I am overwhelmed with the support my readers have extended towards me and my blog. So at this juncture I would like to thank all my readers and fellow bloggers who have visited my space regularly leaving their valuable feedback.

Any milestone achieved calls for a celebration right! So today, I am sharing the recipe of the very famous Neiappams. Neiappams are a part of the Palakkad Iyer Cusine, be it a festival, marriage, or religious function. What the Palakkad Iyer’s call Neiappam is known as Unniappam in Kerala.

 The only difference I know of between Neiappam and Unniappams are that the latter are made by pouring small ladle full of batter into a special pan, called the appa karal whereas the former is made by pouring a ladle of batter directly into oil/ghee. The end result being that Neiappams are slightly bigger and flatter at the underside whereas unniappams are much smaller.

Karthigai is approaching and Neiappams are a part of the offerings made on this day. So celebrate this Karthigai with these yummy appams.

What you’ll need

1.       Raw Rice – 1 cup

2.       Powdered Jaggery – 1 cup

3.       Banana – 1 small. ripe

4.       Coconut – ¼ cup, cut into small pieces (optional)

5.       Green Cardamom/Elaichi – 4 to 5

6.       Oil/ghee for frying

Method

1. Wash and soak the rice in water for 3 to 4 hours. Strain the water completely. Spread the rice on a white cloth and leave it in shade for 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Grind the rice without adding any water into a very fine powder. Now slowly add the powdered jaggery and keep grinding adding very little water. Also add the chopped banana and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer into a bowl.
3. Add the cardamom, and coconut pieces. Mix well. The batter should be of pouring consistency, not too tight or too runny. Add water if necessary.
4. Heat a paniyaaram pan, fill ½ of each groove with a mixture of oil and ghee. Let the oil get heated.
5. Now pour small ladleful of batter into each of the grooves, flip over after a minute. Let this cook on medium heat till a skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. Insert the skewer into each of the appams and transfer them onto a paper towel.

Yummy nei appams are ready.

Note:

1. You can dissolve the jaggery in about 1/4 cup of water and add it to the powdered rice and grind to a very smooth paste.
2. The consistency of the batter is very important to get soft appams. The batter should be of dosai batter consistency. Adjust consistency by adding water. If it is very tight, the appams will be very hard.
3. The quality of rice and jaggery used also play an important role in getting soft appams. Using Maavu arisi is reccomended.

Linking this to Kavi's event Jingle All the Way.

Ammini Kozhukattai/ Mini Steamed Rice Balls

Ammini Kozhukattais - These Kozhukattais are generally made with the leftover dough after making Poornam Kozhukattai and Uppu Kozhukattai. Poornam Kozhukattai and Uppu Kozhukattai are generally made on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi. My MIL makes it more frequently; I should say almost monthly, i.e on every Sankatahara Chathurthi. And everytime, she purposely makes a little extra of the outer dough so that these lovely Ammini Kozhukattais can be made.
Ammini Kozhukattais are savory mini rice balls, steamed and tempered with mild spices. This is an excellent snack for children. My daughter loves making and eating these mini savory balls. Here is the recipe for Ammini Kozhukattai:

What you’ll need

1. Rice Flour – 1 cup
2. Water – 2 cups
3. Salt – a pinch
4. Sesame Oil – 1 tsp

For the tempering

1. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
2. Urad Dal – ½ tsp
3. Dry Red chillies – 1 or 2
4. Asfoetida/Hing – a pinch
5. Curry Leaves a few
6. Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Method

Heat a non stick Kadai, add the 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. Add a pinch of salt and about 1 tsp of sesame oil to this water. Once the water starts boiling add the flour little by little and mix well without forming lumps until it comes together as a mass. Cover and rest it for about 5 to 10 mins. Then, apply some oil to your hands and knead into smooth dough.
Pinch out a small amount of dough and shape it into a small ball. Repeat procedure with the entire dough.
Now place these in a steamer and steam cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. The balls will be shiny when done.
For the tempering, Heat a Kadai with a tsp of oil. Temper with mustard, urad dal and red chillies. Finally add a pinch of asfoetida and curry leaves. Then add the steamed rice balls and mix well. Remove it on to a serving plate. Yummy ammini kozhukattais are ready.

Linking this to Kid's Delight Event - Mini Bites being hosted by Champa originally started by Srivalli

Also linking this to Anyone can Cook Series 23 being hosted at Taste of Pearl City.