Appams!!

Dear Appu,

Gone are the days when I buy bananas near raw from the store, and try to have them consumed while they are still firm and fresh. For the longer it sits on the counter and the riper it gets, the more yummy things they make! Let’s start with things traditional, shall we, and plunge into the world of appams! Do you know how many times I have endeavoured to make this, only to fail miserably each time!!! I started off with thinking that all you had to do to make appams was mash the bananas, mix them up with rice flour and then fry them over the oil to get the softest, plumpest appams. WRONG!! That was disaster # 1. They turned out rock hard and so chewy and rubbery that your mouth ached from the effort to swallow a bite.

So I tried again, but this time after a quick consultation with the MIL. She told me to soak the rice (raw rice) and then grind it with minimum water, together with the bananans and jaggery and deep fry. I thought I had followed instructions, but this time, the batter became sooo.. watery (had to add more water, because I was blending in the regular mixer), and ate up soooo much of oil that you were drinking grease by the end of it! Several more patient trials followed, none of them yielding that desired result, of what I had seen the MIL and Amma accomplish. How was it so easy for them and not for me???

Some 5 more trials must have happened in this interim and I finally had the brainwave of making the batter in the grinder. So it was…

Raw rice – 1 cup, soaked for about 2 hours (I have used basmati too, when the rice shortage here happened)
Jaggery – 1/2 cup
Cardamom pods – 2-3
Urad dal – 4 tbsp (soaked)
Ripe Bananas – 2
Wheat flour – Just a little to adjust the consistency of the batter

 I added all the ingredients to the grinder, except for the wheat flour. Grinder works beautifully for a situation where you have to use very little water. Additional water comes from the jaggery and the bananas. It should take about 20 minutes or so. Add a little of the wheat flour if it is too watery. Once the batter is ready, heat some oil in a kadai, and use a regular karandii (scooping ladle) to pour the dumplings into the oil. Cook on a medium flame and turn every few minutes so it doesn’t brown too much and remove from the oil when it is a nice golden brown. In the picture, a lot of mine went one step beyond golden, but were not burnt. And they tasted….divine!