Unniyappam

• Raw rice/white rice – 2 cups
• Maida – ½ cup
• Jaggery – ¾ cup to 1 cup
• Cardamom powder – to taste
• Jeera powder – to taste
• Seasame seeds – 1 tsp
• Rawa – 2-3 tbsp
• Banana – 2 medium sized
• Baking soda – a pinch
• Coconut bits or grated coconut – as needed
• Ghee
• Salt – to taste

Pre-preparation

• Soak white rice for 2-4 hours and drain
• Meanwhile melt the jaggery and keep aside to cool down.
• Heat ghee in a pan and warm up the coconut bits/ grated coconut till golden brown.

The batter

• Grind the soaked white rice in batches, using melted jaggery instead of water.
• On the last batch of grinding, add in the bananas and grind well.
• Move it to a container and add cardamom powder, jeera powder, seasame seeds, coconut bit/ grated coconut, maida, and 1 tsbp of rawa/semolina. Mix them all very well, preferably with hand.
• Check on the consistency of the batter, it should look somewhat like dosa batter.
• If the batter appears to be looser than that, add in some more rawa/ semolina as this will absorb the water and if its thicker add in some water to make to the required consistency
• If you are planning to make it instantly, add the baking soda and salt and keep aside for atleast 30 minutes.
• If not, keep the batter in a warm place for a little fermentation for 4-5 hours or overnight. If you feel that the batter hasn’t fermented add in a pinch of baking soda.
• Add in the salt just before making the unniyappams.

Method of preparation

• On a medium flame, heat the unniyappam chatti with oil (preferably coconut oil) filled half way.
• Once the oil is hot enough, pour the batter carefully.
• Wait for a few seconds till one side is cooked and is firm enough.
• Either with a fork or a skewer flip the unniyappam carefully for the other side to be cooked. Continue till it turns dark brown in colour

• Make sure that the bananas are ripe, or over ripe (tastes better).
• The batter that is fermented overnight is sure to make the softest unniyappams.
• Make sure that the oil is at the exact temperature, as excess heat can end up in unniyappam that’s not cooked inside and lower heat can end up in unniyappams that are oily.
• Unniyappa chattis are commonly available in all Indian stores round the world