KOCHI: We live in a food-saturated world where we can conjure up any dish with the tip of our fingers. But there are some choice delicacies, that we have tasted from mom’s kitchen that never fails to leave our taste buds.
One such bonne bouche is the mouth-watering ‘Chakkayappam’ (jackfruit dumpling) which is wrapped and steamed in fresh leaf. Or there is the more popular ‘unniyappam’, the deep-fried snack that has the aromatic flavour of jaggery, banana and coconut.
‘Appam’ is the quintessential Malayalali dish that has been there in Kerala households from time immemorial and has so many distinctive forms. Apart from the lacy vellayappam, the signature dish of Christian families, and a top dish in five-star hotels, which is consumed with a fiery beef or chicken curry, there are other varieties including ‘kalathappam, ‘kinnathappam’, ‘ennayappam’ and much more.
The famous ‘unniyappam’ got its name from its small size (‘unni’ means small and ‘appam’ means cake). The delicacy has been the offering in many temples in Kerala, and is made regularly in Hindu households during festivals like Onam and Vishu. But the small rice cake that is made using rice flour, jaggery, ripe banana, coconut bits, ghee and cardamom is not the signature dish of any particular community.
The appam, put in the special ‘unniyappam’ vessel, is a favourite dish of most Malayalis. It is made by melting the jaggery in water and cardamom. Then you should fry the coconut bits in the ghee and keep it aside. Now crush the bananas in a vessel, and add the rice flour, along with jaggery, baking soda and fried coconut bits. Mix it well and keep it aside for half an hour. Heat the unniyappa chatti (vessel) and pour oil into each cell till half is filled. Once the oil gets hot, pour the unniyappam batter into each cell. Make sure that you pour upto half of the cell. That is because when it is cooked the unniyappam will become bigger. Once the bottom part is cooked, turn the uniyappams upside down and cook both sides. Irrespective of region, ‘unniyappam’ is prepared in households in all parts of the state.
One would find it hard to procure the ingredients of the delicious ‘Chakka kumbilapam’ these days. Chakka or jackfruit and bay leaf are not easily available in cities nowadays. The instant dumpling was a common delicacy in the olden days during summers when jackfruits were common in every household.
The appam requires chakka varattiyadu (jackfruit jam), rice flour, grated coconut, jaggery, cardamom and cumin powder. To make the dish, mix all the ingredients to form a smooth dough. Make small balls from the dough. Take a bay leaf and hold it in such a way that the stem is facing up. Roll the bottom of the leaf to form a cone and push the dough into the cone-shaped space and close it by pushing the stem into the centre of the cone. Place all the cones in a steamer and steam for 15- 20 minutes. The instant dumpling is ready! Similarly, we can also make ‘kumbilappam’ using banana as well. In the southern part of Kerala, this appam is known as ‘theraliyappam’.
Who doesn’t love the delicious ‘neyyappam’, that has the flavour of ghee in it. Children love the ‘neyyappam’, which is similar to ‘unniyappam’, but more soft and larger. Coconut slices, cumin and sesame seeds are fried in ghee. Add ghee to the rice flour as well. Dilute jaggery. Make a smooth batter with the flour and add baking soda. Heat oil and deep fry the round-shaped batter in medium heat.
‘Kalathappam’ is popular in the Malabar region. The snack can be prepared using rice flour, jaggery, fried shallots and coconut flakes. The dish is made in two varieties, both sweetened and unsweetened. For the sweetened version, the ingredients are raw rice, parboiled rice, cooked rice, jaggery, shallots, coconut slices, baking soda, oil and salt.
To prepare, wash and soak rice and grind it along with cooked rice. Add the jaggery syrup and salt to rice batter; mix well. In a pressure cooker, add coconut oil and saute the coconut slices. Saute the shallot to golden brown. Add half of fried shallot and coconut slices to the batter and mix well. Heat the pressure cooker on high heat and pour the batter and add the remaining fried shallot and coconut slices on top of it. Cook for 15 minutes and keep it there for 15 minutes. Remove from stove and let it cool.
Another classy recipe from the Malabar platter is ‘kinnathappam’, the steamed sweet rice cake, made with coconut milk. The ingredients include basmati rice, thick coconut milk, sugar, egg, cardamom powder, cumin seeds and oil. For preparing, wash and soak basmati rice for three hours. Now drain them and add it to the blender. Pour in coconut milk and grind them to a smooth batter. Pour the batter into a bowl. In the same blender, add egg, sugar and cardamom powder. Blend them so they are combined. Pour this into the batter bowl.Pour the batter inside the bowl. Sprinkle the top with some cumin seeds. Place this over a pot of boiling water. Cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove them and cut into wedges.
There are many more such delicious dishes from the vast reservoir of the state.