Baked unniyappam
Banana-jaggery bites
- 35 min
- 4 servings
- Snack
- Vegetarian
Ingredients
For 4 servings. 1 serving = 1 adult; a 6-year-old eats about half.
- Puttu podi (roasted rice flour)100 g
- Bananas1
- Jaggery (sharkara)3 tbsp
- Frozen grated coconut1½ tbsp
- Ghee2¾ tsp
- Cardamom pods¼ tsp
You need
- Appe (paniyaram) pan
- Medium saucepan with lid
- Sieve or colander
- Mortar and pestle
- Potato masher or fork
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Jars and lidded containers
Method
- Ahead (Sunday): melt 3 tbsp jaggery with 80 ml water in a small saucepan on low heat, 2–3 minutes, until dissolved. Pour through a sieve to catch any grit. Cool for 5 minutes.
- Crush ¼ tsp cardamom pods, discard the husks and grind the seeds fine.
- In a mixing bowl, mash 1 banana until smooth.
- Add 100 g puttu podi, the jaggery syrup, 1½ tbsp coconut (thawed) and the cardamom. Stir to a thick batter that drops slowly off a spoon. Add a splash of water only if it is stiff.
- Cover and rest 30 minutes.
- Heat the appe pan on medium-low. Put a few drops of 2¾ tsp ghee in each hole.
- Fill each hole about three-quarters full. Cook 3–4 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
- Turn each one with a skewer or spoon and cook another 3 minutes until golden all over and a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool on a plate. Keep 3 days in a lidded box in the fridge, or freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge for the lunchbox.
Tips
- Cooked in an appe pan with a few drops of ghee, never deep-fried.
Make it easier
- Weekend: Make a batch of unniyappam; freeze half for later in the week.
Keeping and freezing
- Fridge: keeps 3 days in a lidded box. Cool it within an hour of cooking.
- Freezer: freezes well for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat until steaming hot.
Good to know
- Contains: milk / dairy.
- Asthma: buy frozen grated coconut without sulphites (220–228).