Unniappam

Ingredients

Rice - 1 Cup
Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Molasis (jaggery) grated -1 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp
Ghee - 4tbsp
Plantain (Palayankodan) - 1 cup chopped
Sesame seed - 50gm
Coconut oil as required
Coconut pieces (optional) fried in ghee- 1/4 cup
Dried ginger - a pinch
Cumin - a pinch

Directions

Soak the rice for 1 hour. Drain well. Grind to fine flour. Grind the chopped plantain, grated coconut, jaggery (molasses) cardamom powder, and rice flour finely without adding water. Blend until it had the consistency of fritter batter. Add powdered dried ginger , sesame, coconut pieces to the mixture. If the batter is too thick add a little water. Fill each Unniappam cup three quarters full with the coconut oil or ghee. When the oil is hot pour the batter into the cups filling each three quarters full. Cook until dark golden brown.

Note: Unniappams are usually made in a special container used for frying. For softer unniappam you can keep the batter aside for 3-4 hours before frying.

Variation : Unniappam can also be made with wheat flour instead of rice flour. Dissolve molasses with some water and keep on fire to make a syrup. Strain and keep aside. When cool add wheat flour and make a fine batter. Keep aside for 1 night. Next day mix in the other ingredients with a little salt and fry the unniappams as given above.