Mouthwatering Unniyappams

  Yet another day of school for my li'l one and a Himalayan task for me deciding his tiffin box menu ( and for all those mothers who pack lunch for their kids)! When my daughter was little, I did not have to do "lunch packing" for her as she went to a boarding school. I think now it is pay back time! Abi is a very picky eater. So every evening I have to start a brainstorming session with my daughter as to what to make for his lunch the next morning. The ideal criteria is that he will actually eat without a fuss, it doesn't spill, it doesn't dirty his clothes too much - very high standards! Sometimes we are successful and sometimes we are not. Here I am posting one such success. I am sure most kids will like this because it is sweet and parents will like this because it's healthy. 

   This is a traditional south Indian recipe called 'unniyappam'. I made this day before yesterday and packed around 10 of them in Abi's tiffin box. I am not sure whether he ate them all himself or the other kids did, but his tiffin box was polished clean!  

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes per batch

Equipment needed: Appam mould ( see picture below)

Ingredients:

1. Maida : 1/2 cup

2. Atta (whole wheat flour): 1/2 cup

3. Banana : 1

4. Jaggery : 125 gms

5. grated coconut: 2 tablespoons

6. A pinch each of dried ginger and cardamom powder

7. Chopped dates : 4

8. Raisins - 10 - 15 ( or any other dried fruits)

9. Luke warm water : 1&1/2 cups

10. Ghee for frying

Method:

1. Soak the jaggery in the luke warm water and stir occasionally till it melts completely.

2. Mash the banana in a bowl. Add the maida and atta into the mashed banana. 

3. Pour the jaggery water (once it is cooled and melted) through a strainer into the banana atta mix.

4. Mix this batter well such that the atta and maida form no lumps.

5. Add the rest of the ingredients into the batter. Check the consistency. If it's too thick, add some water and if it is too thin, add some wheat flour. The right consistency is as shown in the picture below.

6. Heat the appam mould. Now pour about 1/4th tsp of ghee into each of the holes/depressions of the appam mould.

7. Pour the batter into these holes. Allow it to cook for a minute or two. When the sides appear brown in colour, turn the unniyappams upside down and cook for another 2 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check. If it comes clean, it's ready!

bananas, maida, aata, jaggery and grated coconut

dates, raisins, dried ginger and cardamom powder

soak jaggery in water and strain after its completely melted

batter consistency after adding all the ingredients should look like this

Add ghee to the appam mould

When the mould is hot, add the batter like this and cook till toothpick comes clean!

That's it! Enjoy eating hot!