Kuzhi paniyaram

That's one more thing crossed off the "to make" list. I kept whining about not having an unniappam/aebleskiver pan for so long, my mum sent hers through my sister-in-law last year. For some strange reason I thought I couldn't use it on my flat glass hob and packed it up to send it back. But an over packed suitcase meant she had to leave some stuff behind and this pan was the first thing to be thrown out of the suitcase because my mum really couldn't care less about unniappams and she said she dint really want it back. So it was stashed away in a corner and forgotten....

...till a few weeks back when Vineetha sent me some yummy unniappam from her Vishu celebrations and I decided it was high time I fixed my unniappam pan issue. I mean I was having unniappam after some 2 or 3 years and it brought back all those memories and cravings for the same. Took the pan out and decided to give it a go (before Ro got back home from work, or else he would find some fault with it). As usual the necessary ingredients- jaggery and bananas- weren't in stock, but since the pan was out I HAD to make something in it. 

The dosa batter (store bought) came to my rescue and since kuzhi paniyarams were a close second on the list, I got down to business. The pan worked and the paniyarams came out great. I was so excited at the outcome I couldn't wait to show Ro when he got back home. Of course he couldn't understand why I was getting hyper about the "idli's," after he bit into one. Thank god for whatsapp, I sent my sister-in-law (yes the one who brought me the pan) a pic and she was as excited as me, cos I introduced her to paniyarams at a South Indian restaurant here in London.

I served these with coconut chutney and it was the perfect tea time snack. The pan was put to good use shortly after where I made tiny vada's using the MTR vada mix. Like a fellow blogger friend said, it would be great as a starter with drinks and such.

Idli/ dosa batter- 2 cups

Baking soda- 1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves- 3 tbsp, finely chopped

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- 6 to 8, finely chopped
Ginger- 1 tsp, finely grated (optional)

Green chillies- 2, finely chopped

Shallots- 1/4 cup

Asafoetida- a pinch (optional)

Grated coconut- 2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- to fry

In a large bowl mix the batter with baking soda and salt and keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan and splutter mustard seeds followed by curry leaves.

Tip in the ginger, green chillies and shallots and asafoetida and sauté till the onions wilt and turn light brown.

Add the grated coconut, stir for a couple more minutes and take it off the heat. Keep aside to cool.

Into the batter throw in coriander leaves and cooked mix and stir well to combine. Do a taste test and add more salt if required.

Heat the paniyaram pan and add a few drops of oil into each of the holes.

Once the oil is hot, add a tbsp of batter into each of the holes.

Cook on medium heat till the edges start turning brown.

At this point flip them using a fork or a skewer and let the other side cook equally. Drain on paper towels.

Add more oil into the holes and repeat till all of the batter is used up.

Notes: The batter I get from the store is very thick and so I dilute it with a bit of water.

The baking soda helps in achieving nice soft idlis and such and so by practise I always mix it in my batter. The paniyarams puffed up nicely with that addition.
Of course, you can make the same without a paniyaram pan, just that you wont get the perfect rounds. I have tried the same here is the recipe. Tasted just the same.

Fried masala idli's with a coconut chutney

I am not sure i have mentioned this before, but i have never ever made my own dosa/ idli batter. Even when i was in Chennai and in spite of having an awesome maid i still used to buy the ready mix and i was very happy with it. Enter Nottingham and we had to pay close to 6 quid for a dosa whenever we craved it..which was actually not too often. We didn't miss dosa/ idli an awful lot to actually grind and make the batter. So the occasional visits to the mallu restaurant just around the corner was a lot enough to quench our requirement.

London was different. East Ham, the hub of South Indian restaurants and grocery stores, was like culture shock. Even though it was a bit far away from where we stayed, a once in two months visit there gave us the pleasure of acquiring all things mallu. We also discovered that idli/ dosa batter was available in packets..freshly made and was glad we didn't have to pay a humongous amount of money to satisfy our dosa cravings. So now we pick up 2 on each of our visits to East Ham and that lasts us for ever. When we get sick of the dosa and idli, we buy an uppma mix (yes, i have never made my own and don't intend to either...the MTR ones are so awesome) and gobble on that . Honestly, Indian food is no longer a preference in our household now. We are so happy with the pastas and the bakes and the stir fries. Initially we had to have rice at least once a week..now we don't even miss it and so don't have to whip up a million other curries and veggies to go with it.

So last weekend we headed to East Ham and picked up a packet of dosa batter, but completely forgot to buy the sambar powder. So i had to make do with a coconut chutney and some fish curry (again the instant ones). Had a wee bit of batter left over from the dosa and so tried out fried idli's which my grand mom used to make as a tea-time snack. Now, as much as i like the idea of a tea-time snack, its horrible to have to slog it out and make something on your own and then enjoy it. By the time I'm done making it and cleaning up, I am in no mood to enjoy what i made. Same story for almost everything i make btw!

The recipe for fried idli and chutney was adapted from a blog i stumbled upon. They have named it Masala Paniyaram, a name I'm familiar with but I've always referred to it as fried masala idli. Now i didn't have the particular vessel to fry them in, so i used a mini egg pan and made cookie-size idli's which were so cute and came out just as i wanted.

Fried Idli

Idli batter- 1 cup

English Shallots- 2, roughly chopped

Green chilli- 3, chopped

Ginger- 1 inch piece, roughly chopped

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Pepper pwd- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- a handful, chopped

Coriander leaves- a handful, chopped

Salt- to taste

Asafoetida- a pinch

Oil- enough to fry

Mix all the above ingredients together, except the batter, and lightly crush with a pestle or the back of a spoon...just to get the flavours out. Add the batter to this and mix well. Check for salt, spice etc. and add more if required.

Heat oil in the pan and pour a spoon full. Flip and fry the other side after a few minutes.

Drain on paper towels and serve with chutney.

Notes: I added quite a bit of curry leaves and coriander leaves because i love the taste. You can reduce it if you want.

I added a wee bit of ghee to the oil just to get a nice flavour...its not advisable to do so on a regular basis, for obvious health reasons.

I am not typing out the chutney recipe as I followed the exact measurements and procedure as mentioned here. I personally would have liked it a bit more spicy. Maybe next time.