VATTAYAPPAM

    When talking about Appams from Kerala, I always wanted to write about Vattayappam - a soft, spongy fermented Rice cake, steam cooked, which is similar to its counterpart Vellayappam in terms of the ingredients, but the texture and cooking method is what makes Vattayappam special.  Vattayappam could be simply translated into Round Rice Cake.

    It is a traditional Kerala snack, a Nadan Palaharam which turns out to be an oil free tea time snack in most of the Kerala households & it is also a Breakfast dish, which can be eaten like an Appam with hot & spicy Vegetarian or Non-vegetarian Curries. The dish is made by steam-cooking the batter, and is very similar to its Goan counterpart Sanna & the Vietnamese Bánh Bò. 

VATTAYAPPAM

    Once the Christmas fervour begins, the thought of what to cook for Christmas Eve, Breakfast and Lunch followed by the Evening Snack and Dinner follows the suit.  And this is the time most of the families meet around. As we can term it, the Christmas feast is elaborate - tables laden with platters of all kinds of meat, breads, stews, rice, fish, snacks, dessert and the must-have Fruit Cake alias Plum Cake and overflowing glasses of homemade wine & let me remind you that it's just not the wine that culminates the Christmas fervour.

    As I always like to say, Festivals are synonymous not only to Good Food but to Great Food! So let's begin with a few Kerala Christmas Staples which can deck up your table this Christmas.  Christmas Breakfast is mostly Syrian Christian dishes, which showed up only during special occasions.  But now, we live in an age that we cannot even term any dish that's cooked only on special occasions or festivals. It has sneaked into our daily routine food.

    "Pandu pandu oru kaalathu" - as it says Once upon a time, dishes like Appam & Stew were cooked only on festive occasions.  And how these dishes seeped into Kerala household says its history of Dutch & English influence.  Appam, as we call it today, has long been a staple among Jewish communities in Cochin, Bombay and Calcutta, pointing to Jewish Indian origins.  But specifically when we talk about Appam it is mostly associated with the Cochin Jews of Kerala.  Today, although most of the Cochin Jews have all but disappeared from Kerala, with most having immigrated to Israel, but leaving strong traces of their culinary legacy for us to live on.

    Today, let me bring you a recipe from an authentic Kerala Christian household - Vattayappam.  As such, my MIL makes this as a snack and her cooking method is somewhat different. It had always been a hit or a miss.  So I never tried attempting it for really a long time due to a lot of scepticism.  Later, in the past 7 years I tried a few recipes, which didn't satiate my perfection index for a perfect spongy Vattayappams. 

VATTAYAPPAM

    Finally, in the trail & in trials for the search of soft & spongy Vattayappams I have found a perfect recipe from Lekshmi Nair's Vlog.  With her all perfect measurements and one secret ingredient which resulted in soft and spongy Vattayappams.  So soft and spongy that I have been so impressed by it that I am propagating the term soft and spongy for this recipe again and again. I am here after my trial with her recipe, and it was a hit even for the first time.  And it was my first time ever with a perfect Vattayappam.

    Vattayappam is made with rice, sugar, and coconut. Though there are quite number of recipes and versions for the same, which call for using Rice Flour or soaked Raw Rice, some recipes add coconut and some call for adding coconut milk. Some serve Vattayappam garnished with Cashew Nuts, Raisins and Cherries, but the traditional version is served without any toppings in it. While making it as a Tea Time Snack, we prepare it with an extra portion of Sugar and if it is to be eaten as a dish, cut down the amount of Sugar. And variations are long enough that it changes with regions, kitchens and personal preferences.  

VATTAYAPPAM

    This Vattayappam Recipe is made with soaked Raw Rice, Coconut, Coconut Milk, Sugar, Yeast and one secret ingredient which yields you with soft and spongy Vattayappam and that's - cooked Idli Rice. So here we go with Vattayappam recipe - please do read all the instructions and follow the measurements for perfect Vattayappams which could be easily sneaked into Christmas Menu, may be for Breakfast or for Lunch, otherwise simply serve it as a tea time snack with other Christmas goodies like Achappam/Rose Cookies, Diamond Cuts, Square Biscuits/Kul Kul, Banana Chips(Nendhrakaya Varuthathu) etc.,

 

For more KERALA NADAN PALAHARAM RECIPES, Click here...

Cuisine - Kerala (India)
Recipe Type - Appam
Difficulty - Medium
Serves - 3-4
Author - SM

For more APPAM RECIPES, Click here...

 

 HOW TO COOK VATTAYAPPAM - STEAMED RICE CAKES

 

VATTAYAPPAM

INGREDIENTS:

For Vattayappam:

Raw Rice - 1 Cup
Coconut - 1/2 Cup
Thick Coconut Milk - 3/4 Cup
Cooked Idli Rice - 3/4 Cup
Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Yeast - 1/2 Teaspoon
Salt - To Taste

 

Optional Ingredients:

Cashew Nuts - a Few
Raisins - a Few
Cherry - a Few
Cardamom - 2 Pods
Cumin - 1/4 Teaspoon

METHOD:

To Grind the Batter:

• Wash and soak the Raw Rice in ample of water for about 4-6 hours/overnight.
• Once soaked, drain the Raw rice and leave it in a colander.
  
• First, add cooked Idli Rice and Sugar into a blender (mixer) jar and grind it into a fine paste.
• Once ground the paste tends to be watery.
• Now, add soaked Raw Rice, grated Coconut, Yeast and Salt to the above ground mixture.
• Pour in 3/4 Cup of Thick Coconut Milk into it and grind all the ingredients into a fine paste.
• Transfer the Vattayappam batter into a bowl big enough to hold the batter, once it ferments.
  
• When it ferments, the batter might double/triple up. 
• Leave it aside for about 6-8 hours to ferment.

For a detailed recipe on HOW TO MAKE COCONUT MILK, Click here...

VATTAYAPPAM

To Steam Cook Vattayappams.

• Take a round pan, (I use 8" round cake pan) and grease it with a few drops of coconut oil & keep it aside.
• Now pour in enough water into the steamer and place the greased pan in it and cover it with the lid.
• Allow the water to boil on a high flame.  Let the steam build up inside the steamer.
• Carefully remove the lid from the steamer and pour in the Vattayappam Batter into the greased pan kept inside the steamer.
• Just pour about 1/2 the level of the pan.  Once cooked, Vattayappam rises up.  So leave enough space for it to rise.
  
• Cover the lid and cook on a high flame for about 8-10 minutes.
• Then lower the flame and cook for another 45-50 minutes, or until the stick comes out clean when poked into the Vattayappam.
• Once cooked, switch off the flame and remove the pan from the steamer.
• Allow it to cool down for about 10 -15 minutes.
• Gently draw through the sides of the pan with a sharp knife and invert the pan into a serving plate.
• Once cooked, the Vattayappam leaves the sides of the pan, if the pan is greased well.
• Serve it warm as a tea time snack.

VATTAYAPPAM

Serving Suggestions:

• Can serve Vattayappams with Kerala Style Stews.
• Suit best with spicy Beef curries like Beef Ularthiyathu, Beef Roast, Beef/Pork Vindaloo 
• Or serve it with your choice of Vegetarian Curries like Kuruma or with a simple Red Coconut Chutney or Kerala Style Coconut Chutney with Shallots.
  
• Nadan Egg Roast, Egg Curry with Coconut Milk, Egg Kurum, Egg Masala etc go hand in hand.
  
• Non-vegetarian curry of your choice like Chicken Curry, Chicken Mappas, Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk, Tomato Chicken, Chicken Kuruma tastes great with Vattayappam
  
• Varutharacha Mutton Curry, Nadan Erachi Curry, Erachi Kumbalanga Curry are good combinations when served with Vattayappams.

 

VATTAYAPPAM

NOTES:

• I have used Raw Rice in this recipe.  Use Raw Rice which are less starchy.
• Using cooked Idli Rice is the trick behind getting perfect Vattayappams.
• I cooked Idli Rice in an Electric Pressure cooker(Instant Pot).
• Rice Water Ratio - 1:2 For 1 Cup of Idli Rice use 2 Cups of Water to cook.  
• Can use the same ratio if cooking in Rice cooker or pressure cooker.  Adjust the cooking time accordingly.
  
• Use Thick Coconut Milk for the recipe.
• Once ground, the Cooked Idli and Sugar paste tends to be watery.
  
• Grind the soaked Rice, Coconut and the rest of the ingredients using just the mentioned amount of coconut milk for a perfect batter consistency.
• I have used Instant Yeast and hence it tends to ferment soon.  Just 2-3 hours was good enough for the humid weather.  Adjust the fermentation time to suit your region and the type of yeast used.
• The original recipe calls for adding 1/2 a Cup of Sugar for the given measurement.  And it suits well to be eaten as a snack.
• I have added just 1/4 Cup of Sugar, as I plan it for dinner to be eaten with Curries or Stew.
• Some Vattayappam recipes call for adding Cardamom for a note of flavour into it.  Some even add Cumin Seeds too.  Grind the spices along with other ingredients, if you prefer the flavours in your Vattayappam.
  
• I usually do not add garnishes to the Vattayappam.  
• * If you are adding Cashew Nuts, Raisins and Cherries - allow it to cook through on a low flame for about 30 minutes and then arrange the nuts and fruits over the half cooked Vattayappam and then again cook for the remaining time.
• The amount of batter in this recipe yields you with ONE 8" inch round soft, spongy & fluffy Vattayappam.