South Indian Banana Appam – Healthy, Less Fat Recipe

Bananas are pretty popular all over the world. The fruit of the banana tree is eaten all over the world and can used to make dishes such as the banana sheera and the banana appam. The flower of the banana tree can also be used to cook dishes such as the banana flower curry. This article; however, will provide you with the recipe to banana appam.

Banana Appam is a popular South Indian sweet.  They are made during festival season. It is particularly cooked for Kartigai Deepam which is celebrated on the full moon day (pournami) of the month of Karthigai, as per the Hindu calendar. It is one of the most important festivals of the people of Tamil Nadu.

Deepam known as clay lamps in Tamil language is  lit up in houses and streets in the evening of the festival day. Appam and Poori urundai are made on this day. Puffed rice called Poori in Tamil are cooked with jaggery to form delicious sweet balls and appam are cooked with banana and a sweetener like jaggery to form Indian Hoppers.

I used fresh ripe bananas to make these. You also use frozen ones. But if you are someone who is allergic to bananas, you can use any banana substitutes to replicate this recipe. Next week I am planning to bake some banana bread or pancake for the road trip.

I had purchased non stick cookwares from India and they deliver great appams without much fuss. No oil needed at all!  But I smeared little ghee on top to create the authentic flavour to the dish.

These yummy little balls are a true delight in every bite. The wonderful cardamons infuse a lovely aroma to the maida-rice flour batter. A dash of salt enhances the sweetness of the jaggery. With the addition of little water, the smooth batter was ready in no time. 

My kitchen air was filled with a lovely smell of the appam coated with ghee. I felt the smell of  my home back in India. I ended up with 14 appams which disappeared in less than 2 mins. Yummy! Do try this and I am sure everyone at home will love it. Importantly, its so easy to fix. 

It’s OK if you don’t have an appam pan. You can reduce the amount of water and make the batter real thick like the vada consistency. Deep fry them in oil/ghee. Nothing can stop us from enjoying this little pleasure. Give it a try for sure!

South Indian Banana Appam – Healthy, Less Fat Recipe

Banana Appam is a popular South Indian sweet.  They are made during festival season. It is particularly cooked for Kartigai Deepam which is celebrated on the full moon day (pournami) of the month of Karthigai, as per the Hindu calendar.

It is one of the most important festivals of the people of Tamil Nadu. Appam and Poori urundai are made on this day. Puffed rice called Poori in Tamil are cooked with jaggery to form delicious sweet balls and appam are cooked with banana and a sweetener like jaggery to form Indian Hoppers.

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Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: South Indian

Keyword: South Indian Banana Appam

Author: Advika Menon

Ingredients

• 1 ripe long banana
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 4 cardamon – powdered 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp dessicated / fresh coconut shavings (cut into small chunks)
• 1/4 cup  jaggery – powdered + more (if you need more sweeteness)
• 2-3 cups water
• Ghee to cook
• Iron or non-stick appam chatti

Instructions

• Heat water in a pan, add the jaggery and let it dissolve, about 10 minutes on medium low flame. Switch off the flame and let it cool.
• Seive whole wheat flour, rice flour, cardamons, salt, baking soda in a large bowl. Pour the jaggery water and whisk them to smooth batter. You can use a hand blender or a mixer grinder to create the batter.
• Add the mashed banana and coconut piecess to it and mix well. The batter shouldn’t be too watery. Check for the sweetness. If you need more, dissolve jaggery in little water and add to the batter. Adjust thickness with rice flour. It should have a consistency of dosa/idli batter or pancake batter.  Let them sit for 15 minutes.
• Heat the non-stick pan on a medium flame. Brush the pan with little ghee. Once hot, spoon in the batter into each hole and wait for 15min and using a spoon/ wooden prickle turn them over. Cook for another 10-15min. Have an eye on it. Dont burn them. The jaggery should caramelize and impart a beautiful brown color. Smear ghee on top (optional).
• Serve hot with chai. Enjoy!