Unniyappam is a popular Kerala snack. It is made during most of the festivals and as offerings to Lord Ganesha in the temples. Speaking of Lord Ganesha and unniyappam, I should definitely mention the famous Kottarakara Ganapathy Kovil where unniyappam is the main offering. The unniyappams offered at the temple has a special taste and people queue before the temple for these. Everytime I go to India on holidays, I definitely make time to visit Kottarakara Ganapathy and taste those mouth-watering unniyappams.
Traditionally, unniyappams were made after soaking rice overnight and grinding it to a semi-coarse batter. But in this recipe, I have deviated from the traditional method and I am using wheat flour to make healthy unniyappams.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Wheat Flour
- 3 medium sized Bananas
- 3/4 cup Jaggery
- 2 tbsp. Coconut bits (chopped)
- 3/4 tsp. Cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp. Ghee
- 3/4 cup Water
- Oil, for frying
Method
- Grind the bananas to a thin paste. Make sure you use ripe bananas.
- Add the melted jaggery (strain it, if it has impurities) to the ground banana and make it into a fine paste.
- Mix together wheat flour, banana and jaggery paste well.
- Add water little by little, but the batter should be semi thick with dropping consistency.
- Fry the coconut bits in the ghee and keep it aside.
- Add the fried coconut bits and cardamom powder to the prepared batter.
- Keep this mix aside for 30-45 minutes.
- Next, heat oil is unniyappam kara or appachatti, and when the oil is hot, lower the flame to medium. Make sure you pour oil only to fill three-fourths of the unniyappam kara.
- Drop tablespoons of batter to the pan and fill the pits with the batter up to a little more than 3/4th full.
- When the bottom of the unniyappams get a golden dark brown, turn the unniyappam with a spoon and cook the other side too.
- Once cooked, remove and drain on a kitchen towel.
