Aappam with Yeast - Appam - Vegan recipe - Step by Step - Happy 2nd Birthday to the blog

Aappam/Appam is a Breakfast recipe from the state of Kerala. It is characterised by the spongy centre and the crispy outer rim. Apppam, Puttu, Idiyappam and Dosa represent a morning breakfast in Kerala. They are all usually served with Spicy Gravy either vegetarian or non vegetarian.

If you are looking for Appam with Baking Soda (Appam without Yeast), Click here!

When I started blogging a couple of years back, I made a version for the blog. I wanted to make something special for the blog's birthday :-) After all the diwali hoopla, I was not in a mood for an elaborate sweet or a bake. So I decided to revisit my first post and make a new version of it. The version I made first uses Baking Soda. This one is the more authentic version using Yeast. I will also post a recipe for Potato Stew - the classic combo for Appam in a couple of days. In the meanwhile check out the Vegetable Stew and Soya Stew recipes here.



This is typically served in Christian homes in Kerala for Christmas Breakfast

Ingredients

Raw Rice (Pacha Arisi) 1 Cup 

Par Boiled Rice (Idli Rice) 1 Cup 

Grated Coconut 2 Cups (Use Fresh or Frozen, dried ones won't work)

Cooked Rice A handful (if available)

Yeast 1 tsp

Salt 1.5 tsp

Sugar 2 tbsp

Coconut Milk (optional) 2 cups (You can use Milk or even water here)

Method of Preparation

1. Soak both the rice together for atleast 3 hours. Drain the water. 

2. Grind the soaked rice, coconut and cooked rice into a smooth paste adding enough water. I used a Grinder (used for making idli batter). A mixie can be used as well. I added around 3 cups of water, adding it in intervals. Coconut water is recommended. I did not have any, so did not use.

3. Once done, add yeast, salt and sugar. Mix well. Keep it for 12 hours to allow it to ferment.

4. Just before making add some milk (or coconut milk or even water) to bring the batter to the correct consistency. This should be watery than the normal dosa batter.

Method of preparing Aappam/Appam

1. Heat an Aappam Chatti (a small Kadai with lid will do). Use a small piece of cloth or tissue. Dip it in little bit of oil and keep. Just rub it on the Chatti each time.

2. Pour a laddle of batter into the chatti

3. Hold the sides of the chatti and rotate so that there is a layer of batter all around and the rest of the batter is the centre. Appam has thin crispy edges and soft fluffy centre.

4. Close it with a lid

5. Let it cook for a minute or so till the sides are crisp and the centre is cooked

6. Remove from pan and serve with Stew or Kadala Curry

Murungai Ilai Adai - Savoury Crepes made with Drumstick Leaves

Adai is a lentil and rice crepe. It is very high in protein. Makes a filling breakfast or dinner. It is a very easy recipe to make and very forgiving. A little more or less of any of these ingredients won't make much difference to the taste. So even a novice cook can make awesome adai.



Adai is one of the first recipes that I posted in my blog and I was just looking at the photos and was wondering, how a person can take such aweful photos. I have come a long way from there.

Some Adai recipes in my blog
1. Adai
2. Milagu Adai
3. Oats Adai

Now coming to today's recipe, the speciality is the Murunga Ilai - Drumstick Leaf. We used to have a tree in our backyard and we could get as much leaves and drum stick as we wanted. Now it is a rarity. I am still glad, well no grateful that we get it in our Indian Store. Hear it is hard to get even in India.



Avial (Recipe here) is served as a side dish for adai. Do not ask me why? No idea. It is just a very popular combo though Avial is usually a side dish for rice. I guess you just have to eat it to fall in love with the combo



Ingredients (Makes about 15-16 adai)



Sona Masuri Rice (or Raw Rice) 1/2 cup
Idli Rice 1/2 cup (or use any rice)
Toor Dal 1/2 cup
Urad Dal 1/2 cup
Channa Dal 1/4 cup

Onion 1 finely chopped
Drumstick Leaves 1 cup tightly packed (use spinach finely chopped if you do not get these leaves)
Dry Red Chilli 1
Green Chilli 2
Curry Leaves few
Hing (Asafoetida) a little

Salt to taste
Oil to cook

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the rice and dal overnight (or for 3-4 hours).

2. Grind into a coarse paste adding enough water along with red chilli, curry leaf, green chilli, hing and salt.

3. Add the onions and drumstick leaves and mix well.

4. In a tawa (flat pan), pour a laddle of the batter and spread with the back of the laddle. Drizzle a little oil and cook the bottom side. It will take a minute or 2.

5. Flip and cook the other side, about a minute.

6. Repeat for the rest of the batter.

Serve with a chutney or sambar. Avial (a vegetable stew makes an amazing combination for adai. See recipe here).

Oats Pesarattu - Oats and Green Moong Dal Crepes

Pesarattu is a crepe made with Green Moong Dal. Check the Original Recipe here. Today's version of it is a healthier version of it with the addition of Oats. A power packed, tasty, and healthy breakfast to give your day a head start.



We love Oats in our house. So it is not surprising that my blog is loaded with Oats Recipes. Do Check out some of these lovely recipes and try them at home.

Oats Pongal
Oats Idli
Oats Adai
Apple Raisin Oatmeal
Vegan Chocolate Banana Oatshake
Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Homemade Granola with Fruits and Nuts



Ingredients

Green Moong Dal 3/4 cup
Oats 1.5 cups
Green Chilli 1 or 2
Ginger 1 inch bit
Salt to taste
Oil to cook the dosa

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the moong dal overnight. Drain water and grind to a smooth paste by adding a little water along with the green chillies and ginger.

2. Heat a pan and add the oats. Toast it till a nice aroma comes. Cool and powder it. Add to the dal batter.

3. Add enough water to make a thick batter.

4. Heat a tawa and pour a laddle of batter and make dosa (Spread it). Add a little oil to cook it.

5. Cook on one side and flip and cook on the other side.

6. Repeat for the rest of the batter. Serve with Chutney of your choice.

After cooking with Legumes and making Salads, Anu, Radhika and I (my recipes) are making Dosa Varieties this month. Stay tuned for more dosa varieties from all of us. 

Onion Chilli Uttappam - Savoury Indian Pancake

Uttapam is similar to dosa and is made with the same batter. The main difference is that it is made thicker and softer than dosa. Also usually it is topped with some veggies. Today I have made a Onion and Chilli Uttapam.



Ingredients (to make 1 uttappam)

Dosa Batter 1/4 cup (see notes below)
Onion finely chopped 2 tbsp
Green Chilli 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil (or any oil) as required.



Method of Preparation

1. Pour Dosa batter on a hot pan. Do not spread it much.

2. Immediately sprinkle the onions and green chillies. Cook on one side. Add a few drops of oil.

3. Flip and cook on the top side just a little.

Serve with some chutneys or molaga podi (lentil spice powder).

Notes : Dosa/Idli Batter

If you are new to making dosa batter, this is a quick description of the method of making Dosa/Idli Batter. I use 1 cup of urad dal (whole pealed) and 3.5 cups of rice (idli rice). Soak rice in hot water for 3 hours and urad dal along with 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds in cold water for 1 hour. grind urad dal with about 2 cups of water adding little at a time. Takes 30 min in my grinder. Keep aside. Grind Rice with about 2 cups of water adding little at a time. It takes 20 min in my grinder. Mix both with 2 tsp of salt. Allow to ferment overnight. Dosa/Idli Batter is ready to use. If making Idli or Uttappam you can use this batter as is. If making Dosa, add some more water to adjust the consistency.

After cooking with Legumes and making Salads, Anu, Radhika and I (my recipes) are making Dosa Varieties this month for Palooza in the pan. Stay tuned for more dosa varieties from all of us. 

Tri Colour Dosa - Tomato Dosai and Spinach Dosai - Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all my friends from India! As a person living outside India, teaching my son about our culture is very important to me. And as all Indians would agree, food forms a great part of all our celebrations. So I thought what better way to teach my son the colours of our National Flag than thru food. Here today, to make Dosa I have used regular dosa batter and coloured it using tomato puree and spinach puree.



I have also got the recipe for an amazingly easy Tri Colour Parata/Roti as well. I used Carrots and Spinach to colour the roti. You can ofcourse on a normal day make the carrot roti and spinach roti separately. It is super easy and adds to the nutritional value of the roti.

 I served the dosa with Tricolour Chutneys. Chutneys served today are Tomato Onion Chutney (Orange), Thenga Thogayal (White) and Coriander Thogayal (Green).



Hope you enjoy all the recipes. Do stop by to give me feedback!

Ingredients

Dosa Batter (See notes below) 1.5 cup divided into 3, Should be of idli batter consistancy at this stage.

For Orange Colour
Take 1/2 cup and add a 1-2 tbsp of Tomato Paste till you get the desired colour.

For White Colour
Take 1/2 cup and just add a little water to get the desired consistency

For Green Colour
Take 1/2 cup and to that add 1 cup of spinach (pureed). Add a little water to make the puree.

Make sure that the batter is not too runny. You can add things like Green Chilli, Cumin etc to the dosa batters to make it more tasty. But this itself tasted great.

To Make Dosa

1. Pour the tomato batter (2tbsp) on the pan.

2. On top of that pour 2 tbsp of white

3. Finally add 2 tbsp of green batter.

4. Do a circular motion with a laddle to spread the batter (like you do for normal dosa).

5. Cook on one side and flip and cook on the other side.

In this method it is a little hard to get the white colour. Another option is to make the 3 separate and enjoy them :-) Or you can pour the 3 batter one below the other and spread each horizontally.

Notes : Dosa/Idli Batter

If you are new to making dosa batter, this is a quick description of the method of making Dosa/Idli Batter. I use 1 cup of urad dal (whole pealed) and 3.5 cups of rice (idli rice). Soak rice in hot water for 3 hours and urad dal along with 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds in cold water for 1 hour. grind urad dal with about 2 cups of water adding little at a time. Takes 30 min in my grinder. Keep aside. Grind Rice with about 2 cups of water adding little at a time. It takes 20 min in my grinder. Mix both with 2 tsp of salt. Allow to ferment overnight. Dosa/Idli Batter is ready to use. If making Idli or Uttappam you can use this batter as is. If making Dosa, add some more water to adjust the consistency.

After cooking with Legumes and making Salads, Anu, Radhika and I (my recipes) are making Dosa Varieties this month. Stay tuned for more dosa varieties from all of us. 

Milagu Adai - Karthigai adai

Milagu Adai or Karthigai Adai is one of the neivedhyams prepared for Karthigai. My Mom and MIL don't make it. It is a tradition I learned in the internet and thought of trying this time. It was a really good varaition of the regular adai. I used the recipe idea from this site.


Do try the other adai recipes as well from my blog.
Adai
Oats Adai
Adai Paniyaram

Ingredients

Raw Rice 1.5 cups
Urad dal 1/2 cup
Toor dal 1/2 cup
Channa dal 1/2 cup
Pepper 1 tsp
Hing 1/8 tsp
Salt

Optional
coconut and curry leaves

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the rice and dals together for a few hours.

2. Grind into a coarse paste, along with the pepper, hing and salt adding enough water.

3. Add coconut and curry leaves. I skipped it.

4. Pour a laddle into a hot dosa pan and spread like you would for a dosa. Add a little oil. Cook on one side. Once done, turn and cook on the other side.

Serve with chutney or molaga podi. Adai tastes great with jaggery as well.

Can you see the grains of pepper in the click below. Loved the peppery adai. And note that is it lighter in colour than regular adai.





Linking this to Sangeetha's Show me your HITS - Festive Food hosted in my blog.

Mini Corn Uttapam

Want to make your kids happy and still serve a healthy breakfast. This super simple Uttappam is sure to win any kids heart. The size is a key as kids really love anything mini. And corn kind of made my little one think of Pizza. Next time I might even top it with a little cheese :-)

Priya Sreeram gave me a secret ingredient of Corn for me for our group AGC where we are going hush hush the second week... I really wanted to try another dish for this week, ended up with this. will make the other one soon..



Ingredients

Dosa Batter 2 big laddles
Corn 6 tbsp
Ghee as required



Method of Preparation

1. Heat the dosa pan.

2. Take a laddle of dosa batter and pour into 3 small portions. Leave it a little thick. Otherwise the corn will not stick properly. For this the batter should be fairly thick (more like idli batter consistency than dosa batter)

3. Immediately add 1 tbsp of corn on each portion. Add ghee or oil to the uttappam.

4. Cook till the side is done. Flip and cook on the other side.

Serve with side of choice. I treated my son with some extra corn and also some molaga podi mixed with ghee.

Check out the other AGC thoughout this week 
Anusha, Jayanthi, Kavitha, Priya M, Radhika, Veena, Priya S

Linking this to Lets Cook - Lentils and Legumes Event by Radhika

Linking this to South Indian Cooking - Event by Anu, Hosted by Sangee

Oats Adai

Basking on the success of Oats Idli, I made the Oats Adai the very next day. This was our thought process. Husband asked me - can you made adai tomorrow. I said sure. and then - can you suggest a variation to the regular adai so that I can post in my blog. He had just finished eating Oats Idli and so to tease me he said - why not add oats. Little did he know that it is an actual recipe and I will make it...

It tasted quite like the normal adai. Did not find much difference. The only thing that we found different was the graininess of rice that you find in adai was missing. So imagine while making regular adai, you by mistake make a fine paste instead of the 'kara kara' paste. Something like that. Tasty never the less. Will be making this often.



Makes about 15 adai

Ingredients

Oats  2 cups
Toor Dal 1/2 cup
Urad Dal 1/2 cup
Channa Dal 1/4 cup
Onion 1 finely chopped
Red Chilli 1 (Add more for spicy adai)
Curry Leaves few
Hing
Salt

Optional (I did not add this time. But I usually add for adai)
Coconut, green chilli, coriander leaves

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the dal overnight or atleast 5-6 hours.

2. Toast the oats in a pan. Powder it.

3. Drain water from the dal. Add red chilli, hing and salt. Also add green chilli, curry leaf and coriander leaf if using. Grind into a coarse paste with enough water.

4. Transfer to a vessel. Add the oats as well. Add more water if needed.

5. Mix in the chopped onions as well.

6. Make dosas as you will with normal adai.

Enjoy with chutney or molaga podi



Linking this to EP Herbs and Spices - Curry Leaf and Red Chilli Event by Julie hosted by Poonam

Set Dosa

Set Dosa is a kind of thick spongy dosa. It is one of my fav dosas. I like to eat these dosas with Kerala Chammandi or with spicy curries like kurma or kadala curry.

I have never made it before and tried to make it for the first time. I tried the combination I found on the internet. The dosa did come out well, it was spongy as well. The only issue was, it kind was difficult to turn (it stuck to the pan). Set dosas are not supposed to get crisp. If I allowed it to get crisp, these did come off the pan easily.

In hotels it is always served as a set of dosas and hence the name. :-)



Ingredients

Idli Rice 3 cups
Urad dal 1/4 cup
Poha 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Baking soda 1/4 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the rice and dal along with the fenugreek seeds for 5 hours.

2. Soak the poha for 2 hours separately.

3. Drain the water and Grind all of them together in a grinder adding water as required. Do not add too much water.

4. Once done, add salt and baking soda and mix well.

5. Let it ferment for 12-24 hours. It takes longer here as it is very cold in winter.

6. To make dosa, pour in a pan and gently spread. Do not flatten it too much. Do not go in circles like you would for normal dosa.

7. Cook on one side. Do not let it roast ( or become crispy). Bubbles will form on the dosa.

8. Turn and cook the other side for a few seconds.

Serve with chutney of your choice or side dish.





Linking this to Lets Cook - Rice event hosted by Radhika

Carrot Wheat Dosa

I tried a variation to the Wheat dosa this time by adding some grated carrots. My son really loved it. So I thought I will add a separate post for this. The below photo is a miny version I made for him. The other photos show the adult size :-)

Ingredients

Wheat Flour 1 cup

Rice Flour 1 cup
Carrots 6 

Salt

For Tempering

Channa Dal (this is not part of usual recipe and I once added it by accident. we all love it in the dosa)

Jeera 1 tsp

Hing - little

finely chopped green chillies, curry leaf, ginger

Oil for preparing dosa

Method of Preparation

1. Mix Wheat and Rice flour along with some salt with enough water to make a batter. The batter should slightly on the watery side. Let it sit for 30 min. I tried making it more watery this time than the my usual method. 

2. Grate the carrots and mix with the batter.

3. Heat oil in a kadai and add the channa dal. When it starts to brown, add Jeera, chillies, ginger, curry leaf and hing. When it sizzles, switch off.

4. Once cooled, add the tempering to the batter.

5. I poured the dosa batter randomly like I did for the rava dosa. Add some oil to it.

6. Turn over and cook the other side

7. Serve with chutney and molaga podi.





Sending this to Kids Delight Colour palatte hosted by Veena. Original event by Srivalli

Onion Rava Dosai

When one of my friends called me the other day, we were just talking about this and that and the topic turned to cooking. She told me about this amazing rava dosai she made that day. She told me the recipe and even mailed the details. I was not sure if I will try it. Cause I once tried making rava dosai (may be around 5 years ago) and it was such a big disaster. I had to dump the batter and make some other tiffin on that day. I told her about that incident. She promised me this will not be like that. She even pointed me to a video in Vah re vah website showing a guy making it. So armed with her recipe and assurance I decided to give it a shot today.

The result - it tasted amazing. I am yet to master the shape and some of my dosa did fall into pieces cause I was not patient for it to cook. Warning - it does take a little longer than regular dosa (pay attention to what your friends tell you).

I asked my husband what he thought of it - he said he liked it. And then I heard a little reluctance in his voice. So I asked my question in a slightly different way - So you want me to make it again some other time? His answer - Does that mean I have clean it that time as well? I made a big mess on the kitchen counter and poor guy helped me clean it up. (more on this when you read the recipe).

Ingredients

Rava 1 cup (Semolina - use slightly coarse variety)

Rice Flour 1 cup

Maida 1/2 cup

Green Chillies 1

Ginger small piece

Jeera 1 tsp

Hing a little

Onion 2 finely chopped

Salt to taste

Oil for making dosa

Method of Preparation

1. Take the rice flour, maida and rava in a vessel. Add enough water to make a watery batter. This should be really watery. Set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Cut the green chillies and ginger and add to the batter. Add the jeera and hing as well.

3. Heat a dosa tawa and keep it high heat all the time.

4. Spread some onion on the tawa.

5. Here comes the twist. Stir the batter with your hand and using your hand sprinkle the batter on the pan. For those who understand tamil - in the same way as you do 'vasha thalikkal' before putting kolam. To see what I mean, check out the video in Vahrevah

This is the step where I made all the mess. There was batter all over my counter :-)

6. Anyways, cook well till it roasted on one side. Turn and cook the other side just a little.

Onion Rava Dosai is ready to be enjoyed. We had it with Coconut Chutney and Molago Podi.

Pesarattu

Blogging does have its advantages. Instead of making the same old tiffin item, I decided to make something different. That thought led me to Pesarattu. I had made this a long time ago and decided to give it a go again.

I am looking for opinion of my readers as to what ratio they use. I know moong dal is the main ingredient. But the question is do you use some rice as well.

Since it was a Andra Speciality Dosa, I wanted to combine it with something that was also Andra speciality. So ruled out the tomato-onion chutney. I was reminded of peanut chutney that I have tasted from a colleague and decided to make it. Check out the recipe for Peanut Chutney as well.

This recipe will serve 4 adults

Ingredients

Green Moong dal 2.5 cups

Idli Rice 1/2 cup

onion 1 small cut into small pieces

Red chillies 6

Green chillies 2

curry leaves few

ginger 1 inch bit

hing

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the rice and moong together overnight

2. Drain and Grind into a course paste along with green chillies, red chillies, ginger and curry leaves adding enough water.

3. Mix with onion, hing and salt. The batter should be fairly thicker than usual dosa batter. But loose enough to spread. Adjust water as needed.

4. Heat a tawa and spread the batter. Pour some oil on the dosa.

5. When one side is cooked well and the dosa starts to brown, turn and cook on the other side

6. Serve with a side of your choice.

Linking this to MLLA 42 (Susan's My Legume Love Affair Event), this month hosted by Kiran of Sumadhura

Adai

Adai is a very easy to make dosa variety. I like making Adai for a few reasons.

1. All you need to do is soak the rice and dal for a few hours and grind.

2. There is no need to ferment. Make batter and adai can be prepared immediately.

3. There is no way to mess up the adai. It always tastes good.

4. It is the most forgiving of the dosa batters :-). You can change the combination a little (I did not have channa dal at home. so i skipped it. But it still came out tasty). Different families use different ratio of the dals and rice

5. And most important, your husband and son think you have made something very special. My son kept saying "special dosa, thank you amma" through out dinner :-)

There are a lot of interesting combinations for Adai. The famous one is to eat it with Avial. Don't ask me why. But it does taste very good together. Another curious option (which my dad loves as well) is to use jaggery as side. Ofcourse you can eat it with any chutney, sambar or molaga podi.

Ingredients

Boiled Rice (Boiled Rice used for making Idli/Dosa) 1/2 cup

Raw Rice 1/2 cup

Whole peeled Urad dal 1/2 cup

Toor dal 1/2 cup

Channa dal 1/4 cup

Coconut 1/2 cup

onion 1 small cut into small pieces

Red chillies 6

Green chillies 2

curry leaves few

coriander leaves a small bunch (optional)

hing

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the rice and the dals together for about 3 hours.

2. Drain and Grind into a course paste along with green chillies, red chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves adding enough water.

3. Mix with coconut, onion, hing and salt. The batter should be fairly thicker than usual dosa batter. But loose enough to spread. Adjust water as needed.

4. Heat a tawa and spread the batter. Make a small hole in the centre. Pour some oil on the dosa and in the hole

5. When one side is cooked well and the adai starts to brown, turn and cook on the other side

6. Serve with a side of your choice. Do try it with Avial even if you do not like the idea :-)

If you like this recipe, also try the Ada Kozhakkatai in my blog

Sweet Wheat Dosa

I have a big sweet tooth. So it goes without saying that, I like the Sweet Wheat Dosa better than the Salt version.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour 2 cups

Rice Flour 1/4 cup

Jaggery 1 cup

Coconut 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder 1/2tsp

Ghee for making dosa

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the Jaggery with water till it is melted and gets to a thick consistency. Let cool.

2. Mix Wheat and Rice flour with the above jaggery mix with enough water to make a batter. The batter should slightly on the thicker side.

3. Add the coconut and cardamom and mix well

4. Prepare like normal dosa. Spread on the pan and cook on one side. Add some ghee to it.

5. Turn over and cook the other side

6. Yummy Sweet wheat dosa is ready to serve.

Check the recipe of Salt Wheat Dosa as well on my blog