UNNIAPPAM

I had come to know about Paniyaram Pan only a few months back and got so excited to know that it cooks with (almost) no oil.  How cool is that :D  So when my in laws came to visit us they brought one Paniyaram Pan for me :) 

I was so eager to make something in it and the first thing that I made was Unniappam.  The reason was so obvious that I wanted to make something that 'my little bunch of joy' can also have with us. So this dish fit the bill.  Its so soft n fluffy that you would love to have it at any time of the day.  The cherry on the cake is that it does'nt have all purpose flour aka maida, and sugar is substituted with jaggery that gives a nice flavour.  It also has banana that contributes to the softness and flavour.  All in all, a goodness packed snack that kids are surely gonna love.

My LO loved it to the core as its so soft that she could take the bites with her tiny teeth (as she has got only three front ones hehehe).

Me and V also love these Unniappams and have it as evening snacks with tea.  All thanks to Paniyaram Pan. 

With this magic pan I had also made spinach koftas with just one spoon of oil... isnt it great? :)  No compromise in taste.  I will post that recipe soon.

Now coming back to the recipe.. Following is the detailed recipe of these super yummy Unniappams. Do try and enjoy. Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Banana	One (large)
Jaggery( powdered or grated)	Little more than ¼ cup
Semolina	¼ cup
Rice flour	¼ cup
Dessicated coconut (I used fine one)	¼ cup
Cardamom	2 (powdered)
White maize meal (optional)	1 tbsp
Powdered peanut (optional)	1 tbsp
Eno fruit salt	1 tsp
Clarified butter for greasing the pan moulds
Water as required

Method:

•  In a mixing bowl, take banana and mash it with a fork.  
• Add semolina and rice flour.  Mix well.
• Add maize meal and peanut powder.  Mix well.
• Now add jaggery and mix again.
• At this stage, it would be a thick batter.  Add some water and stir very well.  It should be of idli batter consistency.
• Add cardamom powder.  
• Let the batter rest for 1 hour.
• After one hour, mix it well again (final batter should be of idli batter consistency).
• Add eno fruit salt and give it a nice stir.
• Grease the paniyaram pan and put it on the stove.  Keep the flame medium.
• Now remove it from the flame and fill the moulds 3/4 with the batter and again put it on the stove on low flame.
• Cover the pan with a lid.
• After 5-6 minutes, appams would get puffed up.  Turn the appams over if the lower side is cooked and let the other side cook till it gets brown.
• Take it out in a bowl and make other unniappams in the same manner.
• Fluffy, soft and delicious unniappams are ready.  Enjoy.

Note:

1. If you wish, instead of mashing you can blend the banana in a blender.
2. You can make these unniappams without banana also but I think it will not be so fluffy and soft.
3. Covering the paniyaram pan while cooking the appams is very important coz the steam makes the upper portion of the appams cook very fast. 
4. Always keep the flame low, it will take a bit more time but the appams will taste the best if cooked on low flame.
5. Do not make the batter watery as it will not let the appams puff up.