Neyi means ghee. Appam means soft pancakes. This one is also known as Unni Appam, a right name that describes the sweet well. Kerala people call this Unni Appam and Palakkad ones Neyi Appam. Its also distributed as Prasadam in many temples (specially Kerala). A must for Karti Deepam/ Gokhulashtami, this sweet has the goodness of jaggery, elaichi and coconut. A famous Kerala sweet, I love making this once in a while and indulging in it. 🙂
For Karti we make this alongside Adai and Poris for the neivedyam and offer to Lord. This festival is also celebrated to commemorate the bonding between brothers and sisters in South India (like Bhai dhuj and Raksha Bandan). Sisters pray for the prosperity and success of their brothers and light lamps to mark the occasion.
Ingredients:
- Raw Rice: 1 Cup
- Vellam (Jaggery) chopped: 1-1 1/2 cup (adjust sweetness as desired)
- 1 elaichi banana
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- Coconut Pieces: 2 tbsp
- Ghee for frying
Method:
- Soak the raw rice for 3-4 hours.
- Chop the jaggery, peel the cardamom from the pod and keep aside.
- Chop the coconut pieces in thin slices and keep aside.
- Grind the raw rice smoothly. Then add cardamom seeds, banana and jaggery into fine paste with little water and grind till smooth.
- Keep aside for minimum an hour. Add the coconut slices.
- Heat a paniyaram pan or appam pan add ghee and drop a small ladle of the batter.
- Fry in a low/ medium flame flipping the sides till golden brown.
- Store in an air tight container. Stays good for 2-3 days.
Tip:
Don’t skip the addition of banana as it helps in getting the smooth appams.
Foodaterian 