Sweet Appe / Paniyaram

Ever since I've moved to Ahmedabad, and met new people here, most of them ask me where I am from and I start with saying that I am a Mangalorean, who's been living in Bangalore, and their instant reaction is 'oh, you are a South Indian'...ok, i am very much that, but then the next classification is that being South Indian means eating only idli, dosa, sambar and rice...
We do eat that, but that is not the only thing we eat...
Each state down South has so much variety to offer in terms of food, language, customs, but its all tagged as one happy idli-eating community !

Ok, I do know people down South who think that everyone this side of the Vindhyas are 'North Indians' and eat rotis, cholay and paneer !!
Its wierd that after having most cities being so cosmopolitan, some ideas just dont get out of our heads !



I had some friends and their kids coming over yesterday for lunch and decided on a South Indian menu that did not have idli, dosa or sambar...
We had spicy and sweet appes, raw mango chitranna, green and red chutneys, potato fry, chana dal vadas and curd rice (a little boy requested that)

I had a little dough of the sweet appe and made that for breakfast today !
These sweet appes are really spongy, soft and tasty and you can gobble a few down, before you even realise it...Its not too sweet, so it works well for me !

What you need -

3 cups raw rice
1 1/2 cup poha / beaten rice or 2 cups puffed rice
2 cups grated jaggery
1/2 - 3/4 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup buttermilk
a pinch of salt

What you do with it -

Soak the rice in the buttermilk for about 3-4 hours. You can add water to make enough liquid to cover the rice
Grind the soaked rice with the coconut till its a smooth paste
Wash the poha and drain the excess water
Add turmeric powder, jaggery, salt and beaten rice and grind well
Do not add too much water
Ferment it overnight
Heat the appe kadai / Aebelskiver pan and add a drop of oil into each cavity
Pour a spoonful of the batter till its 3/4th of the level in the cavity
Cover and flip over each one after 2-3 mins
Let it cook for another minute

If you dont have a appe kadai / Aebelskiver pan, you can add a little buttermilk / water while grinding the batter
Pour out like a small thick dosa, on a tava
Cover with a lid till done. You dont need to flip this over
This is called 'surnoly' in Konkani

My Ugadi Menu

Happy Ugadi to all of you...

Ugadi translates to Beginning of a New Era and is celebrated as a 'New Year' in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka
Being a few states away, the fervour, holiday and celebrations of Ugadi were missing, but the food made up for most of it...

For lunch, I made a kele-chana ghasshi (raw banana- black chana spicy coconut based gravy), a Kannada style kosambari (salad with mung dal, raw mango and coconut), dali saar, tendle-bibbe upkari and Puranpoli

Here's what we had for lunch today...



Today's Menu

Kele-Chana Ghasshi

What you need -

2 raw bananas
1/2 cup black chana soaked in water overnight
4 tbsp grated coconut
2 tsp coriander seeds
4 red chillies (preferably byadgi)
1/4 tsp methi seeds
pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
mustard seeds and curry leaves to season
small piece of tamarind or 1/2 tsp tamarind paste

What you do with it -

Cut the skin off the bananas and then quater length-wise. Cut into small cubes
Heat with turmeric and a little salt in water till cooked
Pressure cook the soaked chana till cooked well
Roast the red chillies, coriander seeds and methi seeds
Grind with coconut and tamarind to a smooth paste
Add this coconut paste to the cooked chana and bananas and stir till it blends well
Add water and bring to a boil
Prepare a seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil and pour over the ghasshi

Puran Poli (with tur dal)
This puran poli is something I learnt from a friend here - its made with tur dal instead of chana dal, tried that for the first time today

What you need -

1 cup tur dal (soaked for an hour or more)
2-3 cardamoms pounded
1 cup grated jaggery
1 1/2 cup maida / flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

What you do with it -

Wash the dal, add enough water to cover it and cook in a pressure cooker till its soft
Drain off the excess water
Add jaggery to the dal and cook on a low flame, stirring continuously, till all the water is absorbed
Allow it to cool and grind it to a paste - do not add water
Add the cardamom powder
Divide this mixture into small balls
Make a dough with the flour, turmeric powder and 1/2 cup water
Add oil and knead well
Apply a little oil to your palm, take a portion of the dough and flatten it on the palm
Place a ball of dal in the centre and cover from all sides
Dip in flour and roll it out flat
Roast on a hot tava on both sides till it has a few brown spots
Serve with ghee

Kosambari

What you need -

1 raw mango
3 tsp fresh grated coconut
1 green chilli
pinch of salt
1/2 cup yellow moong dal
few coriander leaves

What you do with it -

Soak the moong dal in water for about half an hour or more
Drain the water
Chop the chilli, raw mango and mix with the dal
Add grated coconut, salt and mix well
Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves