Unniyappam

Holidays, while in hostel, were most looked forward to. The last few days of holidays would be spent by mummy asking what I wish to take back with me to the hostel? For me, Unniyappam would be one constant thing on the list.

The goodies taken along with us helps to bare or overcome the home sickness as well as to survive the terrible hostel food.

Apart from the fact that they are deep fried they are one perfect thing to indulge in, as per my opinion. My lil guy also likes it, so every now and then I make use of overripe bananas, which otherwise would go into waste, to make these yummy unniyappams. Here is how I make it or rather my mom makes it, since I follow her recipe here.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup of raw white rice
2. 1 1/4 cup of shaved jaggery
3. 1 large over ripe banana
4. 2 tsp of black sesame seeds
5. 2-3 tbsp of coconut bits or thengakothu
6. ¼ tsp of baking soda
7. Water as required
8. Ghee for frying the coconut bits
9. Oil for frying

Method

• Wash and soak the white rice in water for about 5-6 hours. Drain off excess water.
• Melt the jaggery in about ¼ cup of water. Let it cool a little.
• In a blender, take the white rice, overripe bananas and melted jaggery. Grind it. If you find it difficult to grind add little water, just enough to grind it.
• Remove it into a bowl.
• Heat some ghee in a pan. Fry the coconut chips/bits in it. Drop in the fried coconut bits, sesame seeds and baking soda to the ground rice and jaggery mixture. Mix it well to evenly distribute the ingredients. The batter would be of dropping consistency. If its too thick, add little water to get the right consistency. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in an appe/unniyappam chatti/pan. Once hot, turn down the heat to medium.
• Drop in about a spoon of batter to each depression to make unniyappam. Fry it until golden brown.
• Remove it onto a plate lined with tissue paper. Serve it warm.

Tips

1. Make sure that the batter is of dropping consistency by keeping a watch on the amount of water you add while making the batter. If you happen to have made a batter which is lightly watery, adjust the consistency by adding semolina/rice flour to it.
2. I didn't have any black sesame seeds handy, so I have not used it in this recipe.
3. The batter need not be a very smooth batter. Little crumbs of rice is perfectly fine.