Vellai Appam is a traditional deep fried snack especially made during Deepavali in many households…
Instant Wheat Appam
Instant Wheat Appam or Godhumai Appam as called in Tamil is a sweet dish made using wheat flour, jaggery and banana as main ingredients. This sweet dish is made on festive occasions like Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Karthikai Deepam and many more. In our household, this sweet holds utmost importance, and is a must for most of the festivals.
Unlike NeiAppam or Unniyappam (which is a speciality of Kerala) that requires soaking of rice, followed by grinding, this sweet Appam does not require any soaking or grinding and can be made in under 30 minutes! So it is a really quick and easy recipe and great for beginners too. Unlike Unniyappam which is made in Appam or Appe pan, this Appam is deep fried in oil. You can however make this in the Appam pan, but the texture does not turn as great as deep frying.
This Appam is light and fluffy due to the use of wheat flour. Although some prefer to add small amount of maida in this dish, but we prefer using whole wheat flour at our home. In addition to wheat flour, a small amount of rice flour is added to give a crisp crust. Kids generally love this sweet dish. From my childhood till date, this is the first item that I pick to eat soon after Neivedhyam to god!
Another interesting addition to this recipe is the use of ripe banana which not only makes it more fluffier, but adds to the sweetness and taste. Addition of small pieces of coconut pieces not only enhances the taste, but also gives a bite to it.
A small pinch of Baking Soda helps the Appam to fluff up and make it porous as well. While you can fry these Wheat Appam in Ghee, but since it requires deep frying, so the amount of ghee might not be practical. So you can add one or two tablespoons of ghee to oil while frying, and it imparts nice flavour of ghee.
The most important thing in this recipe is to keep the batter consistency correct. If it is too thin, the Appam might flatten out and not fluff up properly. On the other hand, if it is too thick, you might have difficulty pouring it in oil. Make use of a small round ladle to pour the Appam in hot oil, it will give you a nice round shape Appam. Do not disturb the Appam, until they start floating in oil.
Make sure to fry the Appam in medium heat, so that they cook through inside and get a uniform brown colour. It is worth noting that the Appam continues to change colour once you have taken it out of hot oil. So do not let it turn too brown while cooking. Since we make use of jaggery, this Appam will have a dark brown colour.
This Appam stays good for 2-3 days at room temperature. Other than festive occasions, you can also make this as a quick dessert when you have sudden sweet cravings.
Instant Wheat Appam
Instant Wheat Appam is a traditional deep fried South-Indian sweet made using whole wheat flour (atta), jaggery and banana
Ingredients
- 1 cup Jaggery
- 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 tbsp Rice Flour
- 2 Small Bananas Ripe
- 2 tbsp Finely Chopped Coconut Pieces
- 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
- Baking Soda a large pinch
- Oil for deep frying
- 1-2 tbsp Ghee
- ¾ cup Water
Instructions
- Take one cup of shredded jaggery and add half a cup of hot water. Let it rest for few minutes until the jaggery dissolves.
- Filter the Jaggery.
- To the filtered jaggery syrup, add wheat flour, rice flour, mashed bananas, finely chopped coconut pieces, cardamom powder.
- Mix well using your hand till there are no lumps.
- Now add some water to adjust the consistency.
- Finally add a pinch of baking soda and mix well. The batter must just have a dropping consistency.
- Heat oil in a kadai and add 1-2 tablespoon Ghee.
- Using a small round ladle, gently pour the batter in oil. Cook on medium flame throughout.
- Flip the Appam, once it starts floating.
- Cook until it is golden brown. Drain Appam on a paper towel.
Video
Notes
- Make use of ripe bananas for this recipe. Here I have made use of two small bananas. If you are using a larger variety, you can use upto 1 banana.
- Rice flour is added to give a crisp crust.
- Cook on medium flame so that the Appams are well cooked from inside.
- A pinch of baking soda helps in making Appam fluffy.
- Appam continue to change colour once taken from hot oil. So do not wait until it turns fully brown in oil.
- Deep frying works best for this recipe. However you can make this in Appe pan as well.
If you liked this recipe, or have tried it, please leave your comments and suggestions below. Also, please share the recipe with your friends and family.
