UNNIAPPAM  is a small round dumpling like snack made from rice, jaggery, banana, roasted coconut pieces, roasted sesame seeds, ghee and cardamom powder fried in oil. It is a popular snack in kerala specially made during festivals.

Preparation time : 12 hours

Cooking time: 30 mins

Yield: 30 to 40

INGREDIENTS:

• Raw rice: 2 large cups
• Jaggery: 300 gms
• Small bananas: 3 (preferably palazhamkodam)
• Coconut pieces: 2 tbsp
• Black sesame seeds: 1 tbsp
• Cardamom powder: 1 tbsp
• Salt: a pinch
• Ghee : 1 tbsp
• Dry ginger powder: 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
• Coconut oil: for frying

PREPARATION:

• Soak rice in water for 4 hours.
• After 4 hours drain water and grind rice along with melted jaggery water into fine paste with very little coarseness .
• Now add bananas to this paste and grind again.
• Pour this batter into a vessel and mix salt, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder and keep it for 8 hours. This makes the unniappams more softer as the batter gets fermented.

• Heat ghee in a wok, add coconut pieces finely chopped and roast till it becomes golden brown.
• In the same oil add black sesame seeds and roast for a minute.
• Add this to the batter after 8 hours and mix well.
• Add baking soda and mix.

• Heat oil in unniappam vessel.

• Once the oil gets heated add a spoonful of batter in each circles.

• After a minute try to flip it with a spoon and you can either fry it in the same vessel till it becomes golden brown or you can remove it and fry it in a separate wok. If not you will have to keep on adding oil.

• Once it becomes golden brown, drain and keep aside.