Recipe for Nei Appam made during Karthigai deepam festival. Nei Appam is also called as unniyappam in Kerala. With step by step pictures.
Nei appam reminds me of so many good memories. Nei appam is made in Tamilnadu for Karthigai Deepam festival. I love Karthigai Deepam for several reasons. When we were young, the diwali crackers would be rationed between me and my brother and some would be kept in the loft safely for Karthigai Deepam. Karthigai deepam meant bursting all the stored crackers. The entire neighborhood would be lit with little mud lamps and its such a beautiful sight. My aunt would send us these Nei Appam and I used to wait for these. Here is my aunts recipe for Nei Appam. For traditional Nei appam made with soaked and ground rice, refer to this recipe. https://www.kannammacooks.com/unniyappam-recipe/
Sukku or dry ginger powder is a very important ingredient for making this Nei Appam. There is a saying in Tamil which my aunt says. சுக்குக்கு மிஞ்சிய வைத்தியமில்லை, சுப்பிரமணியனுக்கு மிஞ்சிய தெய்வமுமில்லை. It means “There is no greater medicine than dry ginger, there is no greater lord than Lord Subramanya.” Karthikai Deepam is a Hindu Tamil Festival of Lights. Karthi means Lord Subramanya (Muruga). So if you are doing Nei Appam for Karthigai Deepam, be sure to add dry ginger powder.
Here is how to do Nei Appam.
Boil Jaggery with water until the jaggery is fully dissolved and the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Switch off the flame and strain to get rid of dirt and impurities that may be in the jaggery. Almost always there is some fine sand particles present in jaggery. Keep the jaggery syrup aside.
Remove the seeds from cardamom and grind the seeds to a smooth powder using a mortar and pestle. Add it to the jaggery syrup.
Now add in the important flavoring ingredient for this recipe. Dry Ginger. Add in a teaspoon and mix well.
Take two very ripe bananas and mash it into a paste. Add it to the jaggery syrup.
Now add in the rice flour and baking soda. Mix well. The batter will be thick. Set aside. Let the batter rest for 2 hours.
After the rest, lets make Nei Appam. Heat the paniyaram pan until hot. Add a big teaspoon of oil or ghee in each of the mold. Be generous with the oil or ghee. I like to use an ice cream scoop to spoon out the batter into the paniyaram pan as its a very thick and sticky batter. Icecream scoop makes it easy and mess free. If using a spatula, use another spoon to release the batter from the spatula. Cook the nei appam on both sides until crisp and brown. Add little more oil or ghee if you think after turning the appam on one side.
Be generous with the ghee. You can use a mixture of ghee and oil if you want to cut down on the ghee.
Remove off the pan and allow it to let it cool. Nei appam is ready.
- Measurements used – 1 cup=250 ml
- 3/4 cup Jaggery
- 1/2 cup water
- 5 Cardamom pods
- 1 teaspoon dry ginger
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup ghee for frying appam
- Boil Jaggery with water until the jaggery is fully dissolved and the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Switch off the flame and strain to get rid of dirt and impurities that may be in the jaggery. Almost always there is some fine sand particles present in jaggery. Keep the jaggery syrup aside.
- Remove the seeds from cardamom and grind the seeds to a smooth powder using a mortar and pestle. Add it to the jaggery syrup.
- Now add in the important flavoring ingredient for this recipe. Dry Ginger. Add in a teaspoon and mix well.
- Take two very ripe bananas and mash it into a paste. Add it to the jaggery syrup.
- Now add in the rice flour and baking soda. Mix well. The batter will be thick. Set aside. Let the batter rest for 2 hours.
- After the rest, lets make Nei Appam. Heat the paniyaram pan until hot. Add a teaspoon of ghee in each of the mold. I like to use an ice cream scoop to spoon out the batter into the paniyaram pan as its a very thick and sticky batter. Icecream scoop makes it easy and mess free. If using a spatula, use another spoon to release the batter from the spatula. Cook the nei appam on both sides until crisp and brown.
- Remove off the pan and allow it to let it cool. Nei appam is ready.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Festival Dishes
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
- Measurements used – 1 cup=250 ml
- 3/4 cup Jaggery
- 1/2 cup water
- 5 Cardamom pods
- 1 teaspoon dry ginger
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup ghee for frying appam
- Boil Jaggery with water until the jaggery is fully dissolved and the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Switch off the flame and strain to get rid of dirt and impurities that may be in the jaggery. Almost always there is some fine sand particles present in jaggery. Keep the jaggery syrup aside.
- Remove the seeds from cardamom and grind the seeds to a smooth powder using a mortar and pestle. Add it to the jaggery syrup.
- Now add in the important flavoring ingredient for this recipe. Dry Ginger. Add in a teaspoon and mix well.
- Take two very ripe bananas and mash it into a paste. Add it to the jaggery syrup.
- Now add in the rice flour and baking soda. Mix well. The batter will be thick. Set aside. Let the batter rest for 2 hours.
- After the rest, lets make Nei Appam. Heat the paniyaram pan until hot. Add a teaspoon of ghee in each of the mold. I like to use an ice cream scoop to spoon out the batter into the paniyaram pan as its a very thick and sticky batter. Icecream scoop makes it easy and mess free. If using a spatula, use another spoon to release the batter from the spatula. Cook the nei appam on both sides until crisp and brown.
- Remove off the pan and allow it to let it cool. Nei appam is ready.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Festival Dishes
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/nei-appam/
South Indian Restaurant style Moong Dal Fry. Recipe for Tamilnadu Thanjavur Thalicha Paruppu.Dal Fry, South Indian Moong Dal Fry, Thalicha Paruppu.
I had this Dal Fry at a restaurant in Thanjavur during our temple trip last week. The dal was so warm and comforting with rice after a long sunny day at the temple. Thanjavur is known for its vegetarian fare called ilai saapadu. Its the thaali feast served for lunch on a banana leaf. This recipe is inspired from the dal we ate in Thanjavur.
Thanjavur brihadeshwara temple is my most favorite temple. The temple just completed its 1000 years. There are so many other temples that are big and grand. But this one is the best as its made entirely of Granite. No soap stone, No lime stone – just 100% Granite. In an age of soft iron and no modern tools, the intricacy of the structure in granite is awe inspiring. Its truly the big temple.
Raja Raja Chola is my favorite hero. They say that this might be the only recorded painting of him with his guru Karuvurar. Karuvurar means a person with no rebirth. Hinduism believes in rebirth.
There were so many things that kept me looking curiously for hours. Some of them were the paintings. These paintings are 1000 years old. If you look at the paintings, you can see a hand bag, ladies in cut shoes, and Raja Rajas court wives (in transparent clothes) praying at Chidambaram. And all this was 1000 years ago.
There is an edifice which has a man with a hat at the Thanjavur temple. It might be a proof that the Cholas traded with the Europeans as they say that the hat resembles the dutch hat. Another theory is that this guy is a Chinese Buddhist monk as Buddhism was wide spread in India during that time. Whatever it was, a man with a hat at a temple – unique!
We saw so many sculptures with intricate work at the Lord Subrahmanya tower. We had so much fun. Soooo much fun! No school, no rules, no timings, no alarm clocks. Thats the nice thing about vacation.
Now back to the recipe. This is a very simple dal. The dal is tempered two times.
Cook the Dal: Boil half a cup of split moong dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles. Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.
First Tempering: Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Then add in the chopped shallots (small onions) and the garlic. Pound the garlic with the skin 2-3 times and add it whole to the pan. It gives a nice aroma. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
Now add in the finely chopped tomatoes, one cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. Let it cook for 5 minutes in medium flame until the tomatoes are nicely cooked and mashed up.
Now add the cooked dal and half a cup of water. If the consistency of the dal is too thick, add a little more water. The dal should not be too thick like mashed potato. We are looking at a pouring consistency. Let the dal come to a boil. Add in the coriander leaves and switch off the flame.
Now lets do the second tempering. Here are the tempering ingredients.
Heat two teaspoon of ghee in a small kadai and add in the cumin seeds, curry leaves and the dried red chillies. Let it splutter. Once the spluttering sound has subsided, switch off the flame and add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida (hing) and red chilli powder. Mix well to roast the powders. Add it to the dal and serve hot with rice.
For Cooking Dal
- 1/2 cup Split Moong Dal
- 2 Cups Water
First Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 4 cloves garlic
- 10 shallots (small onions), sliced
- 1 Tomato, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 - 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped
For second Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Ghee
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 2 sprigs Curry leaves
- 2 dried Red chillies
- 1/8 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder
For Cooking Dal
- Boil half a cup of split moong dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles. Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.
First Tempering
- Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Then add in the chopped shallots (small onions) and the garlic. Pound the garlic with the skin 2-3 times and add it whole to the pan. It gives a nice aroma. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now add in the finely chopped tomatoes, one cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. Let it cook for 5 minutes in medium flame until the tomatoes are nicely cooked and mashed up.Now add the cooked dal and half a cup of water. If the consistency of the dal is too thick, add a little more water. The dal should not be too thick like mashed potato. We are looking at a pouring consistency. Let the dal come to a boil. Add in the coriander leaves and switch off the flame.
For second Tempering
- Heat two teaspoon of ghee in a small kadai and add in the cumin seeds, curry leaves and the dried red chillies. Let it splutter. Once the spluttering sound has subsided, switch off the flame and add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida (hing) and red chilli powder. Mix well to roast the powders. Add it to the dal and serve hot with rice.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dishes, Lentils, Dal
- Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu
