Kerala Unniappam

Unniappam is a popular traditional snack in Kerala. Unni means “small” and appam means “rice cake”. This dish is made of almost all the houses in Kerala. These unniappams will be liked by all. I like to call these “cuteness overloaded” appams. They are so soft and scrumptious that you will end up eating a whole lot.

This is prepared using rice, jaggery, and banana. Traditionally this is made using clarified butter.

We can also add some roasted coconut pieces in the batter but I like it this way.

From so long I badly wanted to try this dish, but without the pan it was impossible. This time when

my in-laws came from India they bought the pan and I made them for the first time, which came out super yummy and soft.

These unniappams can be made using raw rice, but as I didn’t have so much of patience to soak the rice, I used rice flour. This is an oily dish, but once in awhile, it is fine to have these delicious and traditional snacks. Hope you will also try this dish and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 1 no
2. Rice Flour- 2 Cups
3. Jaggery- 1 ½ Cups
4. Cardamom powder - 1 Tsp
5. Dry Ginger Powder- 1 Tsp
6. Baking Soda- ½ tsp
7. Oil- for frying
8. Water- ¼ Cup

Method:

1. Grind the bananas to a nice paste. Melt the jaggery using little water over a medium heat. When the jaggery completely melts, strain and keep this aside.
2. Drop the rice flour along with the melted jaggery into the ground banana and give it a nice blend.
3. Add little water till they form a pouring consistency.
4. Transfer this to a bowl. In this add the cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, and baking soda. Give it a nice stir. Keep this batter for about 3- 4 hours.
5. If you find the batter too runny just add little rice flour and if the batter is thick add little water.
6. Heat the non-stick unniappam pan. Pour 1 tbsp of oil in all the rounds. Drop a small ladle full of batter into each round and let it fry for sometime. After about 5-7 minutes, flip it to the other side and let it fry until golden brown.
7. Once they are done, remove them using fork onto a kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining batter and enjoy delicious unniappams.