What morappam is to PalakkadIyers, is kuzhipaniyaram to TamilNadu. PIs usually make using the left over idli/dosa batter. I don't remember anytime my grandma or my mother making it from scratch. Though, in TamilNadu too, they make from left over batter, usually its made from scratch. For a long time I wanted to try them from scratch and when Viji akka(Vcuisine) posted it, I had to make it. I made this when we had called our friends for dinner before we left to Pune. This was the starter.
You need
- Boiled rice - 1 cup
- Raw rice - 1 cup
- Urad dal - 1/2 cup
- Salt
Seasoning
- Oil - tblspn
- Mustard seeds -1 tspn
- Chana dal - 1 tblspn
- Green chillies - 2 nos finely chopped
- Curry leaves
Onion - 2 nos, finely chopped
Oil to fry the paniyarams
Method
Soak rice and dal separately for five hours. Grind dal first in the same way as you do for idli/dosa. Grind both the rice together .Take care not to grind it smooth. It will affect the texture of the paniyarams. The ground rice should have rava like texture.
Mix the ground urad dal and rice batter with salt. Allow it to ferment for 8 hours or over night.
Do the seasoning with mustard seeds, chana dal, curry leaves and green chillies and add to the batter. Finally add the chopped onion to the batter. Stir well.
Heat the appam pan with oil in each of the holes. I used my non-stick pan. Spoon in the batter and let it cook till it starts browning. Flip the paniyarams and cook the other side too. Serve with coconut chutney/ mint chutney/ tomato chutney. I have served along side with coconut chutney and mint chutney.
