UNNI APPAM

 UNNI APPAM

Toady's recipe is for a sweet/snack that is very popular in Kerala called "Unni Appam" also written as "Unniyappam". The main ingredients for making this are: rice, banana, and jaggery. It gets its name from "Unni "meaning "small" in Malayalam the local language there. "Appam" is for the round rice cake which we call Appo/Appe in Konkani and Paniyaram in Tamil. 

This can be made in different ways. One method is to soak the rice and grind it to a batter. I use the other method which is simpler in which we use use rice flour.  I particularly love the addition of small pieces of roasted coconut in the batter which adds to the taste of the Unni Appams. 

I have adapted this recipe from Unni Appam in Gita's Kitchen. In this, however, she has not roasted the coconut pieces.

Please remember that the sweetness of the Unni Appams will depend on quantity of the jaggery and the sweetness of the banana used. Some prefer to use over ripe banana while others prefer to use less sweet bananas so that they don't overpower the taste of the appams. This of course is a matter of individual taste!

 Do try this out and I am sure you will love it!

Ingredients:-

• Rice Flour, 1 cup
• Jaggery, 1 cup
• Ripe Banana, 1
• Coconut Pieces, 1/2 cup
• Cardamom Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Ghee, as required to make the Unni Appams

Method:-

Wash and peel the banana and chop this into pieces 

Grate the jaggery

Cut the coconut into small pieces and fry them in ghee till they give off a good aroma. Keep aside. 

In a thick bottomed kadhai, dry roast the rice flour for a couple of minutes

Transfer to a bowl and keep aside

Make the jaggery syrup by dissolving the grated jaggery with a little water and boiling it for about 5 minutes

Strain the jaggery syrup and add it to the rice flour and mix well

To this add the chopped banana pieces  and transfer the rice flour-banana mixture to a mixer jar 

Grind the ingredients adding water a little by little to get a thick batter 

The batter should be thick but of a flowing consistency 

Remove the batter to a vessel and add the cardamom powder and pieces of fried coconut

Mix well and allow it to ferment for 3 to 4 hours

After about 3 hours, mix the batter before use

Heat the special griddle/appe kayli/paniyarakkal on a medium low flame
When it is hot, pour about 1/2 tsp of ghee in each of the sockets
When the ghee gets heated, pour the prepared batter to fill each of the sockets.
Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes on low/medium flame
Using a skewer, flip the Unni Appams carefully and fry the other side
Once the Unni Appams are cooked, take them out using a skewer
Serve hot

Hints: 

• Take care not to overfill the sockets with the batter
• If you are not sure whether the Unni Appam is cooked, you can poke it with the skewer to check. It should come out clean when it is well cooked. 
• Keeping the Unni Appams for too long on one side results in it getting burnt. Flip to fry the other side at the right time
• When the Unni Appams turn a golden brown, you know they are well cooked.

STRAWBERRY & BANANA SMOOTHIE

STRAWBERRY & BANANA SMOOTHIE

Now's the season for strawberries and we love buying them each year. The sight of strawberries reminds me always of the strawberries we enjoyed in Mahabaleshwar, Lonavla and Panchgani in Maharashtra.

Today, I present an easy-peasy smoothie of strawberries in which I have added banana not only to add to the taste but also to give it more thickness. This version uses yogurt as well.

How sweet you would want your smoothie to be is a matter of individual taste. Also the sweetness of the smoothie naturally depends on the quality of the strawberries and how sweet they are without adding any sugar.

As a variation you could use honey instead of sugar if you wish to do so. If you like the smoothie to be thick, you can use 1 whole banana.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries, 8-10
• Banana, 1/2
• Fresh Yogurt, 1 cup
• Milk, 1/2 cup
• Sugar, 2 tbsp or to taste
• Vanilla Essence, a few drops

Method:

Wash the strawberries, snip their tops. and chop them.
Peel and slice the banana.

Place the strawberries and banana in the blender and run it till they are fully crushed
Pour the milk and yogurt into the blender jar
Add sugar to taste
Add vanilla essence
Run the blender till all the ingredients are well-mixed
Stir and keep refrigerated
Serve chilled poured into tall glasses