Unniyappam/ Unni Appam (Kerala Style Banana Pancakes)

By Pavani @napavani
Blogging Marathon# 35: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Regional Dishes - Course Specific
Dish: Snack --- Unniyappam/ Unni Appam
For Day 3 of BM# 35, I wanted to try any authentic breakfast dish from Kerala. After looking through the google search results for Kerala Breakfast recipes, Appam looked very traditional and authentic. But after seeing a couple of you tube videos, I decided it's not time for me to make appam. We are currently experiencing bitter cold temperatures and I'm sure the appam batter is not going to ferment to make soft & fluffy appams. So I went back looking for other options to make.
Then I came across these Unniyappams/ Unni appams. Saw a youtube video and the recipe looked simple enough to make. I already have a few bananas riping away, so thought this is a good use for those too.
Unniyapam is a traditional Kerala sweet that is offered as prasad in temples and is also served as snack. These can be made by soaking and grinding raw rice, but lazy that I am I found a recipe that uses rice flour instead. I also used much less oil than showed in the you tube video. I skipped the traditionally used coconut bits because my son is not a fan of coconut.
I really liked how they turned out. They are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the inside with a distinctive banana flavor. They are perfect for tea time snack.

 Ingredients:
Rice flour - 1cup
Jaggery - 1cup, grated (use less if you like your sweets less sweeter)
Water - ½cup
Ground Cardamom - ½tsp
Ghee/ Clarified butter - 2tsp
Banana - 1 medium, mashed
Coconut bits - 2tbsp (optional)
Sesame seeds - 2tbsp (optional)
Method:
  • In a medium size saute pan, dry roast rice flour for 3~4 minutes on medium flame, stirring frequently. Remove into a mixing bowl.
  • In the same pan, heat jaggery and water. Once jaggery melts down, turn off the heat and add this mixture to the rice flour.
  • Add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix until well combined.
  • Cover and set it aside for at least 1 hour.
  • When ready to make unniyappams, mix the batter and if it too thick, add a little bit of room temperature milk to loosen it. Batter should be the thickness of idli batter.
  • Heat a aebleskiver pan and add 2tsp oil in each slot. Fill each slot with the batter and cook until golden brown. Flip the unniyappams and cook on the other side until golden brown.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 35.