Nei Appam for Karthigai Deepam

Nei Appam for Karthigai Deepam . A delicious sweet in Tamil Cuisine.

 Tips to get soft nei appam

Here is a tip to make soft nei appam without adding baking powder / cooking soda.

Traditional method – Grind soaked raw rice instead of rice flour. While preparing appam batter, add 2 well ripe bananas and keep the batter covered for 3 hours. Then nei appam will come out very soft.

Makes: 24- 26

Ingredients

200 g ( 1 cup ) raw rice ( pachari )

80 g (1/2 cup) grated coconut

130 g well ripe bananas (4 small bananas ), roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

1/4 teaspoon dried ginger powder ( chukkupodi )

150 ml to 200 ml melted and sieved jaggery or to taste

2 teaspoon ghee

Tip: Better to use small ‘’ nei yappam kadai  ‘’ as it is easier to manage heating evenly - so that the ‘’ nei appam ‘’ comes out evenly done.

I tried with bigger nei appam kadai also, but found managing heat evenly over the pan is difficult and may result in burnt appam.

Method

Wash and clean raw rice and soak in 3 cups water for 4 hours. Drain out water thoroughly and make a smooth paste in mixer (in batches) with grated coconut and chopped bananas. Use only very little water (1 - 2 tablespoon) during grinding.

Finally add melted and sieved jaggery, cardamom powder and dried ginger powder (dried ginger powder will enhance the taste). Batter should not be very thick. It should be of pouring consistency. Keep aside the batter for  3 hours to allow it to ferment. Nei appam will be soft and spongy.

Heat appam kadai  on a medium heat. Sprinkle each mould with little ghee.

Pour batter in each mould. Sprinkle little ghee again over batter. Cover with a lid and cook on a low - medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes till crisp and sides turn golden colour (until the edges separate from the kadai moulds and you start getting a nice aroma).

 Flip them over (to cook the top side) with the help of stick and cook again for 8- 10 minutes or until golden color.

It’s a delicious after school snack and it’s also a very popular sweet.