Dates Vattayappam

Vattayappam is a popular Kerala delicacy, which traditionally was made in households with left-over appam batter. However now, most of the bakeries in Kerala sell packaged Vattayappam. This can never beat the freshly prepared homemade ones.  

Vattayappams are steamed soft rice cakes with a perfect blend of coconut and fermented by yeast to make it fluffy. This is definitely on my Easter Menu.You guy's better rethink yours:)

Vattayapam usually has cashew nuts and raisins for richness along with a tinge of cardamom. My recipe has a whole lot of dates which gives it the sweetness and of course you may do away with the sugar that you add. 

I picked this recipe from my mother-in-law :)

Ingredients

1. Dosa Rice/White Rice -1 cup
2. Dates - 40 to 50 - you may reduce or increase as per your choice.
3. Coconut - 3/4 cup grated
4. Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp
5. Boiled rice - 1/4 cup
6. Cashew nuts and raisins -a handful
7. Salt to taste
8. Yeast -1tbsp
9. Water -1 cup

Method

Soak the rice and de-seeded dates over night in water separately. Wash the rice and strain the water.

Blend together the rice, dates, water, boiled rice, grated coconut in batches and pour into a deep vessel since the batter rises after adding yeast. Add cardamom powder to this and mix well.

Soak yeast in 4 to 5 tbsps of warm water for about 20 minutes till it becomes foamy and is fermented.

Mix the yeast with the batter and keep the vessel closed and in a warm place to let it ferment for at least 6 hours or till it rises.

Add salt once the batter has risen and stir it just enough for the salt to mix.

I have used cake pans in idli cooker to steam the cake. You may alternatively use a deep steel plate. Just grease the plate with a little ghee. Pour the batter into the dish and top it with nuts and raisins. Kerala bananas also make a good topping.

Steam this for 20 minutes. Remove from the flame and set aside for cooling. Wedge it out of the dish once cool and cut into shapes of your choice.

Ela Appam/ Ela Ada - with banana

How many of you knew that ela ada or ela appam is a popular Onam breakfast recipe?

Well, I did not, until quite recently. For me, Onam was all about an elaborate afternoon Onam sadya.

So why not have a breakfast dish as well to spice up the Onam celebration on the blog:)

I have never made ela appam before and I do not remember it being my favorite when my mom made it for us in the evenings after school. It's been so many years now and I definitely wanted to make this.
Banana leaf used to wrap the appam gives the ela appam a distinct flavor and aroma that will tickle your taste buds. I tried the ela appam infusing a little of banana as well. We enjoyed the final product!

Ingredients

1. Roasted Rice Flour - 2 cups
2. Boiled Water - 1.5 cup
3. Jaggery - 250 gms grated
4. Coconut - 1 cup grated
5. Banana - 1 ripened
6. Banana leaf
7. Salt to taste

Method

Mix the jaggery with coconut and keep aside.

Boil water , add salt and the rice flour in parts, continuously folding it together with a fork. Once the entire flour has been folded in, let it rest for a while. Let the mixture cool, meanwhile mash the banana. 

Add the mashed banana into the mixture and fold it well with your hands. Make balls out of the mixture.

Take a banana leaf, wash it, pat dry and run it over the flame. This prevents breakage when you later make the appam.

Place a rice ball on the leaf. Wet your hands and gently press it creating round shape as you go along.

Place a generous amount of filling over one half of the pressed dough. Fold it into half along with the leaf.  Gently press the edges to hold it together.Fold the edges of the banana leaf and place it in a steamer on medium flame for about 10 - 15 minutes.

Ela appam ready. Bite gently into the appam - you can enjoy the flavour of  banana and the banana leaf:)

You may also note - 

• You may replace jaggery with sugar.
• You can add cardamom powder to enhance the flavor.
• You an choose to have thin appam or a little thicker ones but make sure you are generous with the filling that you place inside.

Rava Uthappam

Quite a few friends have requested for some vegetarian recipes to be posted in my blog else they say they would  " unlike" the page on facebook :)

I have been trying to recollect the vegan recipe that I love the most and that is when Rava Uthappam clicked! A quick uthappam recipe that does not require the batter to stand over night.

So here goes the history.

This recipe dates to those days when I had just moved out of college into corporate life. A few of us classmates moved in together after college beginning to bask in the glory of the newly found financial independence. After a hectic day at work, we would gather in the kitchen to cook ourselves a decent dinner. All we had was three or four utensils, an over packed small refrigerator shared by nine maybe ten of us, a double burner stove(one burner which hardly worked) and our inadequate cooking skills. We were always on the lookout for simple and quick recipes. None of us had the time or the energy for elaborate ones. That is when one of my friends decided to make sooji ka chilla (her mother's recipe) which I fondly call as rava uthappam. Sooji ka chilla was a delight to our tummies at the end of a long and tiring day.

I have tried this recipe on several friends and family. They have all loved it equally. Hope you like it too. This recipe is dedicated to my friend, her mother and also the wonderful roomies with whom I have enjoyed this.

Here it is -

Ingredients

Roasted rava/semolina/sooji - 1 cup
Yogurt - 1 and 1/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 medium sized finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium sized finely chopped
Green chilly - 1-2 finally chopped
Coriander leaves - a handful chopped
Carrot - 1 grated
salt to taste
Ghee


Method

Beat the yogurt along with water and salt. Add rava to the yogurt, a spoonful at a time stirring well to avoid the formation of lumps. Once the entire rava has been added, let the batter soak for half an hour.

Meanwhile chop the vegetables.
Add the chopped onion, tomato and green chilly to batter and mix it well. Also add in half of the coriander leaves, the rest can be used as a garnish

Heat the dosa tawa and grease the tawa with ghee. Pour in two ladles of the batter and spread it slowly. The consistency of this batter would be different from the normal dosa you make and will not spread easily giving you a perfect round shape. Using the ladle, gently spread it across ensuring uniform thickness as far as possible. Spread across the coriander leaves and grated carrots on top.

Keep it covered on medium flame for around 5 minutes till the bottom changes color and is lightly crisp. Tip it over to cook the other side for around 2 minutes. Do not overcook this side as you may burn the carrots on top.

Serve it hot with fresh coconut chutney.

Do not forget to try this latest dish from my kitchen and impress your family and friends!!

You may also note -

1. Try to stick to the measurements else you may not get your uthappam in one piece. It would crumble while trying to tip over.
2. You could try adding capsicum or any other vegetable of your choice.
3. Cook immediately after you add the veggies to prevent it being mushy.