Karupatti Appam (Gullu appam | Loni appam)

Karupatti appam is a very popular appam in Madurai area. Particularly it is very popular among Sourashtrians. Whenever my aunts visit Madurai, they crave to have this appam delicacy because it is not available in their places. An old lady in my locality prepares and sells this appam every morning. Kids and adults flock over and even wait for long time to get her appams. Butter bun, Bangarappan bhairi, puttu and kuruttu are the other Madurai delicacies they crave for. Oh, I am feeling a fresh whiff of Madurai air in Melbourne now!

I thought it is the forte of only experienced cooks to make this appam. It was only recently when I tried making this appam, I found how easy it is to prepare at home and I was so thrilled and excited when I found I can prepare this much loved appam myself. My man was also all surprised to see how good it tasted and was all praises too!

This appam is generally preferred for breakfast but it can be had for a light dinner also or even as a healthy mid-meal snack. This is had as such without any need for sidedish or chutney. Muttai karuppatti appam is also very famous and deemed very healthy.

Ingredients

1 cup raw rice

1 cup par boiled rice

2-3 tbs urad dal

1 ts fenugreek seeds

1/2 cup cooked rice (optional)

1/3-1/2 cup palm sugar (adjust amount according to taste)

1/2 ts baking soda

Preparation

Grinding process

- Soak raw rice, par boiled rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds together for a minimum of 3 hours or even overnight.

(Instead of using parboiled rice, you can do this appam with the raw rice alone. Using only raw rice gives a good crispier appam. Raw rice is used for crispiness and par boiled rice is used for softness. So you may adjust the amount of the rice accordingly)

- In a mixer grind them to a smooth paste along with cooked rice adding enough water. The batter shouldn't be too thin as we are going to add the palm sugar syrup later on which may dilute the batter still further.

- Add little salt to the ground batter and keep them in a warm place for fermentation.

- There is no yeast added in this recipe and the little urad dal added aids in the fermentation process. Fermentation happens for sure if you also add the cooked rice. If you live in a place having warm temperature then cooked rice need not be added.

- During winter days, I set my air conditioner in the heater mode, place the batter container in a chair under the heater. Swing and set the heater fan accordingly so that the hot air flows to the area where the batter is placed. This ensures that the place is warm enough and fermentation happens very quickly. (This is a foolproof method which I am following in the recent days)

- After fermentation, place the container in the refrigerator

Getting the appam batter ready for cooking

- Boil 1/2 cup of palm sugar in 1 1/2 cups of water and melt the sugar to get a clear thin liquid. Strain them in a tea strainer to remove impurities if any. Transfer the sugar liquid to the same liquid. Bring them to a rolling boil. Continue boiling the liquid for about 5 minutes until it becomes a considerably thick sugar syrup.

- Allow the palm sugar syrup to cool and then add to the appam batter. (Never add hot syrup to the batter)

- Also add in the baking soda.

- Mix well and rest the batter for a while.

Cooking appam

- Heat appam kadai on a medium flame.

- Add few drops of ghee or oil and  smear them using a kitchen tissue.

- Take little batter in a laddle and pour in the center of the appam kadai.

- Quickly swirl the kadai so that the batter spreads evenly.

- The edge of the batter should be thin and the excess batter will settle down in the center of the kadai. It forms a thick spongy bed in the middle and thin lacy edges around.

- Close the kadai and continue cooking them in medium flame.

- When it is 3/4th cooked add half a teaspoon of ghee to the center of the appam. When it melts, swirl it around to coat the edges too.

- After the appam is browned well, just scrape a little on the edges with your wooden spatula. Now it should slide or get peeled off from the pan easily.

And this is how it is traditionally served. Place a small ghee ball in the center of the appam, fold and serve in a banana leaf.