Palappam/Rice pan cake/Vellappam and Vegetable kuruma...

                                                 Palappam with veg Kuruma


Happy New Year everyone

This is my first recipe for the year 2014.Sorry for not updating my blog with recipes for the last 1 month.I was...am busy with my little one,new member of our family.Glad to tell you all We are blessed with a baby boy on last Dec 20.Now a days time is flying for me with his little little daily routines.my lovely mom is here with us for helping.So i am giving her recipes for the time being.She is a great cook with good skills and tips.She bought Palappam chatti/pan this time.So now a days we are using that pan for making good palappams in exact shape.Till last Nov we were making kallappams,thick versions of palappam in Dosa thava/pan.So here comes the recipe for Palappam and Vegetable Kuruma.Hope everybody knows this recipe.But im giving this for the beginners who need help.

Also grinding and home made batter is far far better and healthy than instantly available in market.As one of my aunty reveals the fact,she is using this instant palappam mix in the market instead of yeast.It means the instant mix as the name shows contains more yeast  or fermentation products for such advertising results(ferments within 3-4 hours).This is not good for our health.Now a days all busy people are buying these packets for easy making of BF...But one hidden fact is behind the secret of instant....in such case healthy home made batter is the better option.

Palappams are break fast food item used in southern part of India  but can also be used for main courses in all functions or occasions.It is named differently in different areas.It is called Aappam in TN.The speciality is it is making in a special pan for making soft and thin palappams in good  round shape.Since we are adding coconut milk or grinded coconut(milk) it got  the name as Palappam.In northern regions of Kerala it is called Vellappam.
    Palappam Recipe
Ingredients list

1.Rice(Ponni rice or any white rice)/Rice powder - 3 cups
2.Grated Coconut - 1 cup
3.Cooked Rice - 1 cup
4.Sugar - 2 Tb sp
5.Baker's Yeast - 1/4 Tsp

Method
1.Soak 3 cups of rice in water for 1 hour.Grind rice,coconut and cooked rice in small quantities in a grinder or mixie.
2.Grind the ingredients 1,2,3 and keep the batter in a large bowl(plastic/steel).
3.Add sugar and dissolved yeast solution in  luke warm water to the grinded batter.
4.Keep the batter in room temperature overnight or 8- 10 hours.
5.Fermented batter can be used for preparing palappam in palappam pan/chatti.

                                                   
                                                  Palappam pan/chatti

• Add salt to taste to the fermented batter before starting the preparation.
• Take 1 large spoon of fermented batter and pour it into the hot palappam pan and turn the pan clock wise in order to form round palappams and keep some batter in the center. 
• Cover the pan with a lid and cook for few minutes.Good palappams are soft with lots of holes and crispy  light brown colour at the egdes.

                                         Palappam in the making process

Tips
1.Either you can add yeast solution to the batter or grind 1/4 Tsp of yeast along with coconut or cooked rice and mixed with batter.
2.Yeast solution :Take a little luke warm water in a bowl and add the yeast with little sugar.Keep this for 20 minutes and add directly to the rice batter and mix.
3.Addition of sugar makes the light brown colour at the edges.
4.Since we adding cooked rice for grinding,no need of  pavu kachal( i don't know the English term for that.
5.Grind and prepare the batter in the evening and ferment it over night for next days break fast.
6.Keep the batter in oven and make it warm in  in cold places.
Another method for making palappam
Pavu kachal  method

• Take 1/2 cup of rice powder  in a pan with lit water and keep it in a low flame and stir continuously until the rice powder dissolves completely.Switch off the flame and remove from flame.Allow this to cool and add remaining rice powder and mix with water.
• In the above method you can avoid cooked rice and add coconut milk instead of grinded coconut.
• Don't make the batter too watery.Add appropriately water and milk.
• Addition of yeast is same in both methods.

Vegetable Kuruma

1.Carrot - 1
2.Potato - 1
3.Green peas - 1/4 cup
4.Grated coconut - 1 cup
5.Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6.Chilli powder- 1/2 Tsp
7.Coriander powder - 1 Tsp
8.Garam masala - 1/2 TSp
9.Big Onion - 1
10.Green chillies - 3
11.Ginger - garlic paste - 1 Tsp
12.Salt - to taste
13.Coriander leaves - for decoration n aroma
14.Water - 3 cups

Method
1.Soak peas in water over night.Cook carrot,potato and peas in a pressure pan for 2 whistles with little turmeric,salt and  1 cup water.
2.Place a heavy bottom pan in medium flame and add oil when the pan gets hot.Add cut onion and saute it with lit salt till it becomes translucent.
3.Add few curry leaves,green chillies and ginger garlic paste along with cooked onion.cook until the raw smell goes.Add all the curry masalas 5-8  to the sauted gravy and keep the pan in low flame.Saute everything and make a good gravy.
4.Add cooked vegetables to the gravy with 2 cups of water and saute it well and bring to boil.
5.Grind coconut in a mixie with little water and make a  good paste and add it to the cooked boiling curry.Add few coriander leaves for taste and aroma.
6.Coconut paste gives good thickening for the gravy and great taste.
7.Boil the curry/gravy for 1 more time and remove the pan from flame.
8.Serve with hot palappam and enjoy.

Palappams are good combinations with all gravy curries either veg or non veg.Usually I prefer Chicken stew for palappams.You can prepare veg stew also by adding coconut milk in place of grinded coconut.

Other combination curries for palappams
1.Chicken stew---best
2.Mutton stew---best
3.Green peas curry
4.Beef curry
5.Egg masala curry
6.Vegetable stew

  Also this veg kuruma can be used along with chappathies/nan or any roti items.