Appam

Happy Diwali! The festival of lights is here. ..and appam is a great way to celebrate.. This is my mom`s Palakkad iyer recipe that she makes in a special appam pan, however I got lucky when I spotted an electric doughnut pan that was the perfect size for appams.

Ingredients 1 cup raw white rice(patna rice is best but any rice that`s not basmati not sticky works) slightly under 1 cup jaggery or cane sugar ghee or butter to line baking pan

Spice Mix 1 green cardamom pod, cloves removed and powdered

Serves 4 Pots n pans doughnut baking pan

Method

1. Dissolve jaggery in just enough water to cover the jagger and filter to remove any dust. Store in fridge.
2. Rinse and wash rice thoroughly in running cold water a couple of times. Discard water & soak in fresh water overnight or at least 4 hours.
3. Grind rice in little water. When rice is a fine paste add the dissolved jaggery. SOS the texture should be a little more runny than cake batter. If you added too much water, don’t worry, just add a tsp of wheat flour which should fix it or arrowroot flour if available.
4. Set aside for 2 hours. Add cardamom powder.
5. Grease doughnut pan with a little ghee or butter. Place 1⁄4 tsp ghee in the bottom of each doughnut mould. SOS test by making one appam & then if its not soft enough, soak a tbsp of urad dal, grind & add to batter for a softer appam.
   
6. Pour enough batter to fill the bottom half of each doughnut hole in pan.
7. Turn off baking pan when appam is browned on the bottom. When cool remove from pan.

Fun facts
Diwali is a festival that brings together many religions of the world. Jains celebrate it, so do the Sikhs & also the Hindus. For the hindus its the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and the one who put an end to the destruction caused by darkness was the crown prince Rama. There a is a lot of folklore about him, but history also indicates that there was such a good king who ruled the kingdom of ayodhya which spread all over southeast asia not just India. Born in the royal family of the solar dynasty, Rama is considered to be the epitome of goodness. Ever conscious of his duty as a prince setting an example for his kingdom, he forsake his right to the throne to help his father keep his promise. Banished to exile in the forest where he spent 14 long years, Rama underwent a lot of hardships including the kidnapping of his wife Sita by the demon king Ravana. After a long drawn battle where Rama defeated Ravana and returned to Ayodhya, the people of Ayodhya rejoiced and shared sweets. Streets were lined with brightly lit lamps as the people rejoiced that their crown prince was back home again. While the celebration of diwali varies between religions there is one common denominator – the lighting of lamps implies the removal of darkness or ignorance of our true self-the unveiling of the fact that our true self is not just this body but that spirit which is in everyone–absolute, unchanging, constant and steady. Isn’t that a beautiful takeaway from this beautiful festival.

Best served hot, I love the relative ease of Appam and how its so tasty with very few ingredients. I hope this Diwali brings you and your family lots of light, abundance and wealth-physical health, material riches and spiritual wealth too.

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