Unniyappam is a small round snack made from rice, jaggery, banana, roasted coconut pieces, roasted sesame seeds, ghee, and fried in oil.
Unniyappam is one of those special sweets snacks from Kerala and is also served in the Onam Sadya. They are also offered as prasad in some temples in Kerala.
When I make Unniyappam I prefer to use raw rice, With rice flour, the appams have a dense texture at times.
This recipe makes around 30 to 32 small Unniappam
INGREDIENTS:
For Soaking Rice
- 1 cup raw rice or 200 grams rice - use any type of short-grained rice
- water as required
Other Ingredients For Unniyappam
- 2 medium-sized banana or 3 small banana
- 2 to 3 dates ( optional )
- 1/4 cup maida
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- ½ cup jaggery powder or add as required
- ¼ cup water or add as required
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda - you can also add ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coconut
- ½ to 1 teaspoon coconut oil or ghee for each mold
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
METHOD:
Soaking Rice
- Rinse 1 cup rice in the water a couple of times. Then soak rice in enough water for 3 to 4 hours. You can even soak rice overnight if you want.
- Later drain all the water and add the soaked rice in a grinder jar.
- Now grind the rice by adding very little water into a smooth batter ( it should not be too runny nor too thick ) & keep aside
- Let's make the syrup out of jaggery powder, take a pan add jaggery and little water and let it boil allow the jaggery to melt properly, there should not be any lumps, keep stirring in between so that it does not stick to the bottom. (For a more sweet taste you can add ¾ cup jaggery)
- Once its ready allow it to cool for 5 mins
- Next, take 1/4 cup maida in a mixie jar, to that add chopped bananas, 2 to 3 dates ( seedless ) jaggery syrup,1/4 tsp salt and grind it into a smooth batter
- Now add the rice batter to this and combine everything well
- Now pour the batter into a bowl & Keep aside.
- Then add 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds, coconut pieces,¼ teaspoon baking soda. Baking soda can be skipped too, but adding them makes the appams have a soft texture.
- Mix well.
Making Unniyappam
- Now heat the KARA or Appam Chatti pan. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon ghee to each mold. then add coconut oil to fill the molds. Keep the flame to a low.
- When the oil becomes hot, with a spoon or small glass pour batter in the Chatti molds till ¾ of each mold.
- On a low to medium-low flame cook till the base is golden and crisp.
- Then turn over each Unniyapam with a wooden skewer or stick.
- You can turn over a couple of times more for even cooking.
- Once golden from all sides, then place the Unniyappams on kitchen paper towels or strainer.
- Prepare Unniappam with the remaining batter in the same way. If there is oil in the molds, then no need to add extra oil.
Serve Unniappam warm or at room temperature as a sweet snack
The recipe makes for 30 to 32 unniyappam. These stay good at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. You can even refrigerate them.