Unniappam

Unniappam brings nostalgic memories of our childhood days when in the evening we came home from school sniffing the sweet aroma of the appam and Amma would make my brother and I wait till Achan came from office.It would be then an impatient gobbling of the soft appams along with a cup of maltova!

Mix 1 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup mashed or grated banana( one small banana is enough ), 1/2 cup powdered jaggery (without lumps ), 1/2 tsp cardamom powder & about 1/2 cup warm water using a hand blender. For very soft appams increase the banana a little & decrease the water. You can make the same with wheat flour instead of rice flour & that is also good. You can also try with half of each flour. The secret is in blending well incorporating air which makes it light. Hence I a hand blender would be ideal. In the place of bananas you can add minced ripe cjackfruit as well,but Don’t add both. But if you add fruits the shelf life of appam will be short.The addition of fruit makes it soft, but it will absorb a little more oil.So, pat well with absorbent tissue 2,3 times.
When you fry appams in appakkaara also, keep turning them to get uniform golden brown appams.
For a change & slightly longer shelf life, soak 3/4 cup wheat rawa & 1/4 cup thin rice for 5-6 hrs. Drain well & grind fine (without adding water ) ,adding 1 cup powdered jaggery & cardamom powder. Make unniappams the usual way. Adding little grated fruit is your option. This is also very soft & tasty. The variety is endless!