Aapam

Nowadays I have been able to update my blog only once in 2 months. Work pressure has increased and my internet connection is also not stable. Every time I wanted to write a post, I was stuck with the writer's block. I had tried out many things for the first time in my life but still I did not know where to start. Last month, for the first time I had made Salt Cheedai and Sweet Cheedai. Everbody warned me saying that it will burst, but fortunately for me everything went on great without any hassles. I will post those soon. Meanwhile I also tried baking dates bread in the microwave which was a disaster. The bread turned out to be rock solid that the moment I dumped it in the dustbin, the dustbin could not handle the weight and fell sideways. Everything cannot be perfect.

Today I tried making aapam and it turned out to be wonderful. I was very pleased because I can say that I am better than my MIL in making aapam's. The last time my MIL tried making aapam's I ended up making it like dosas. Of course I did take additional help from Meenakshi Ammal book and Lavanya. Here we go with my recipe:

Ingredients

Boiled Rice - 1 cup
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Aval - 1/3 cup ( I used the thin / soft ones)
Urad Dhal - 1/4 cup
Vendhayam - 1 tsp
Coconut Milk - 200 ml (I used ready made pack)
Salt - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Preparation


Soak the boiled rice, raw rice, aval and vendhayam for 4-5 hours. Soak urad dhal separately for 4 hours. Grind urad dhal till soft and fluffy. To this add the soaked rice mixture (By this time the aval would have literally dissolved). Grind to a smooth paste (the ground mixture will be fluffy). Add salt and allow it to ferment. This usually takes close to 5-6 hours. When ready to make aapam's, add baking soda and coconut milk and mix well to form a easy to pour thin batter. Heat an aapam pan and pour about 2 scoops of the batter and swirl the aapam pan so the batter spreads to the edges of the pan. The middle part of the aapam is usually thick. Cover the aapam pan and cook on a low flame till the middle part is cooked. Remove from pan and serve with coconut milk.

Aapam is ready and yummy!!!