Ragi Paniyaram

Day turns out to be good, if you started good. For me, if I have managed to have a good breakfast, day goes good. Its a bonus if I get some time to make something special, which is on weekends, since all are off from school and work and get up late, which gives me enough time to make something else if my hopefully interesting recipes turns out to be a disaster.

On weekdays too, we make variety of breakfast other than just cereals or sandwiches, which helps me not to deal with the tantrum of lil one wanting for something different and ignoring to eat what is offered. Well, I have the luxury of being a stay at home mom, if I may say so, which lets me plan a variety of breakfast option, so why not do it right?

I find idli batter to be a great option for creating wonders. Variety of options with just one single batter. If you are working, I bet you would be cooking in bulk to survive though the weekdays. The idli batter if made in bulk could turn into idli, dosa, uttappam, paniyaram, idli upma etc. etc. You would just never get tired of it. This paniyaram is made from the left over ragi idli batter and is happily relished by my family. So here it is, how its made.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of ragi idli batter
2. 1/2 tsp of urad dal
3. 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
4. 1 tbsp of finely chopped onion
5. 1 tsp of finely chopped ginger
6. A pinch of asafoetida 
7. 1 sprig of curry leaves , chopped
8. 1 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves 
9. 1 tbsp of cooking oil
10. Salt to taste 

Method

• In a pan, take the oil. 
• Once hot, add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds pop add the urad dal. Once they start turning brown, add the chopped onion, ginger and curry leaves. Sauté it.
• When the onion turns tender add in the chopped coriander leaves and asafoetida. Stir it well. Remove it from the fire. 
• Add it to the ragi idli batter, along with some salt if not added already to the idli batter. Mix it all well.
• Heat up the appa patra or paniyaram pan. Turn down the heat to low. Drop in 2-3 drops of oil to each hole, if using a non stick appa patra. Else you might have to be a little generous with oil to avoid sticking of paniyarams on to the pan. 
• With a spoon, pour in the batter to each hole until it is 3/4 filled. Cover and cook it for 2 minutes. Flip each paniyaram, cover and cook it for another 2 minutes. Remove it on to a casserole to keep it hot until served.
• Serve it with some sambar and chutney.

Tips

1. You could also add some green chillies to the tempering if you wish to.