Unni appam

Unni appam is a small round snack traditionally made from soaked and ground rice, jaggery, banana, roasted coconut pieces, roasted sesame seeds, ghee and cardamom powder and fried in oil in an appe (paniyaram) pan. But this traditional recipe calls for a lot of preparation time including the soaking of raw rice for 5 to 6 hours. Being one my favourite snacks i have always wanted a quick and easier version to make this lovely delight. Today i am finally content with one of my experiments and i present you the easiest version to make this kerala snack. Before you start preparing for the recipe make sure you have an appe pan. ( Photo enclosed below)

Ingredients

• Roasted rice flour (Idiappam / pathiri podi) : 1 cup
• All purpose Flour: 3/4 Cup
• Semolina / Rava : 2 Tbspn
• Jaggery : 200 - 250 gms
• Water: 1 cup + 3/4 cup
• Cardamom Powder: 1/2 Tsp
• Coconut: 1/2 cup
• Soda Bicarbonate: 1/4 tsp
• Coconut oil to fry

Method

1. Boil 1 cup water and add jaggery block to it and melt completely
2. Meanwhile add the rice flour, maida and rava in a mixing bowl
3. Once jaggery is melted , sieve it and pour this hot jaggery mix to the flour mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon. 
4. Add the remaining 3/4 cup water little by little and get the batter ready. ( The consistency should be quite thick like dosa batter)
5. Now add the grated coconut and cardamom powder and mix well ( Add more water if needed)
6. Once the consistency is corrected add the soda bicarbonate and mix.
7. Now the batter is ready to be fried
8. Heat coconut oil in the appe pan by pouring a teaspoon of oil in each hole.
9. Once the oil is hot pour the batter in each hole in a way that the batter does not over flow from each hole.
10. Fry until one side is golden brown. Then using a fork flip the unni appams and fry for another 2 - 3 minutes until both sides are golden brown.
11. Remove from oil and continue frying with the left over batter.
12. Serve hot or store in air tight container once it cools down.

Happy Cooking!
Shabana