Unniyappam
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Small round fritters of rice, jaggery and banana fried in ghee in a special pan, a temple offering and festival snack.
Region: KeralaOccasion: Vishu, Karthika and temple offerings; teatimeTime: 45 min + 1 hr restingServes: About 25Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw rice, soaked 4 hours (or 1 cup rice flour)
- ¾ cup jaggery, melted in ¼ cup water and strained
- 2 small ripe bananas (palayamkodan or poovan)
- 2 tbsp coconut bits fried in ghee
- ½ tsp cardamom powder and a pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)
- Ghee or coconut oil for frying
Method
- Grind the soaked rice, bananas and jaggery syrup to a thick batter.
- Stir in the cardamom, salt, coconut bits and sesame. Rest for an hour.
- Heat the unniyappa chatti (a pan with round hollows) and half-fill each hollow with ghee or oil.
- Pour in the batter almost to the top and fry on medium heat until the bottom is brown.
- Turn each one with a skewer and fry the other side, then drain and cool.
History
Unniyappam (‘little appam’) is offered at many Kerala temples, and the round-hollowed pan used for it is a common sight in Kerala kitchens.
Significance
It is made for Vishu, for the lamp festival of Karthika, for Sree Krishna Jayanthi and as prasadam in temples, and it keeps well for a few days.