Nei appam (Ghee Appam) is actually made from grinding rice with grated coconut, added jaggery and fried in ghee generously. As the name calls for Nei Appam, the whole flavour of the appam comes from ghee only, so leave about calories for a day and try this delicious Nei appam recipe for this Karthigai Deepam. It is also called a Unniyappam recipe in Kerala. Try this Karthigai appam for neivedhyam tomorrow and wish you all a happy karthigai deepam.
Check out my wheat flour appam recipe for this Karthigai Deepam
Unniyappam Recipe
Nei appam Recipe / Unniyappam Recipe is actually made from grinding rice with grated coconut, added jaggery and fried in ghee generously.
- 1 Cup Raw Rice
- 3/4 Cup Jaggery
- 1/3 Cup Coconut
- 1 Small Ripe Banana
- 2 to 3 Pinch Cardamom Powder
- 1 Pinch Dry Ginger Powder / Sukku Optional
- 1/4 tsp Cooking Soda
- 1 Pinch Salt
- Required Ghee Link for ghee
Soak rice for 2 to 3 hours. Mix jaggery and water in a pan, heat and melt it. Strain it through a filter to remove impurities from the jaggery.
Rinse rice well and drain the water. In a mixer add rice along with grated coconut and grind it.
Pour the melted jaggery syrup and grind it to a smooth batter. Allow it to ferment for 3 hours. Then add mashed banana, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, cooking soda, salt and mix well.
Heat a paniyaram pan, fill each mould with 2 tsp of ghee. Using a spoon, take little batter and fill each mould with 3/4 of the batter (You can also deep fry the appam's in kadai using oil).
Pour little more ghee on top, cover it with a lid and cook in medium flame. After 2 to 3 minutes, the bottom gets browned and cooked, now flip it to the other side using a spoon or skewer. Leave it for 2 minutes, add little ghee so it gets browned equally on both sides.
Unniyappam recipe is ready. Stays good for 2 to 3 days.
Tips for Unniyappam Recipe
1. Always use ripe banana only, which gives sponginess and flavour to the Nei appam recipe.
2. Banana can be substituted with 2 tbsp of urad dal. Soak and grind urad dal along with rice.
3. For instant version, readymade rice flour can be used instead of grinding raw rice. However authentic Nei appam calls for grinding rice.
4. The batter should not be thick or too thin, it should be in the dosa batter consistency.
5. If the batter is thick, the appam's will turn hard.
6. If the batter is thin, the appam's will absorb more ghee/oil.
7. For troubleshooting, if the batter turns watery add little rice flour.
8. I ground the coconut along with rice, but you can add it separately to the batter also.
9. Instead of grated coconut, you can also add coconut bits to the batter.
10. Adding salt enhances the sweetness of the Unniyappam recipe.
11. This appam can be deep-fried in oil also.
12. If you are calorie conscious appam can be fried in sesame oil also, but ghee only gives the perfect taste.
13. Don't give resting time after adding cooking soda, also don't add more than mentioned.
14. Addition of dry ginger powder is optional but helps in digestion and adds flavour.
Unni Appam Recipe
Method for Nei Appam Recipe
1. Soak rice for 2 to 3 hours. Mix jaggery and water in a pan, heat and melt it. Strain it through a filter to remove impurities from the jaggery.
2. Rinse rice well and drain the water. In a mixer add rice along with grated coconut and grind it.
3. Pour the melted jaggery syrup and grind it to a smooth batter. Allow it to ferment for 3 hours. Then add mashed banana, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, cooking soda, salt and mix well.
4. Heat a paniyaram pan, fill each mould with 2 tsp of ghee. Using a spoon, take little batter and fill each mould with 3/4 of the batter (You can also deep fry the appam’s in kadai using oil).
5. Pour little more ghee on top, cover it with a lid and cook in medium flame. After 2 to 3 minutes, the bottom gets browned and cooked, now flip it to the other side using a spoon or skewer. Leave it for 2 minutes, add little ghee so it gets browned equally on both sides.
Unniyappam recipe is ready. Stays good for 2 to 3 days.
Nei Appam Recipe
Welcome to my blog www.asmallbite.com. Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you’re enjoying my recipes to make the taste forever. I am Priya Santhamohan, writer and photographer (with hubby’s help) of this blog.
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