Vattayappam: Rice and coconut steamed cake - a Syrian Christian speciality

Whether savoury or sweet vattayappam is so delicious. The best vattayapam I have ever had is my thresiamma ammachi's. She uses Toddy instead of yeast. I know, what pains did our nans take to get that superb taste. My dad still has tales to tell about how he managed to get it for her in Trivandrum , the capital city of Kerala. :-)

Still remember the easter mornings when she used to prepare vattayappams with chicken stew, beef cutlet and beef and kurkka ualrthu for nombu thurakkal. I'm drooling now. :-)

Here is how I make it

My vattayappam recipe is very much similar to how I make appam. Check it out here.

I decided to make it when one of my dear friends R from school/dance class asked me for the recipe. This one is dedicated to u R.

Ingredients :

Raw rice – 2 cups
Cooked rice ( parboiled rice works best) – 1 cup
Grated coconut – 1 cup
Yeast – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1/4 cup or more to taste
Salt – a pinch

Cardamom powder – a pinch (Optional, I like it better without this)

Roasted Cashews and Raisins (Optional)

Method :

- Soak the rice in water for 5-6 hours and drain. 

- Grind this with grated coconut,sugar, yeast and cooked rice adding just enough water to a smooth batter, to be as thick as idly batter.

- Add salt and mix well together.

- Cover it with a lid and keep it  warm  for 8 – 10 hrs to ferment.

- Steam for 20 mts. There are a variety of ways in which u can steam this.

Check out my post on how to steam here.

tips:

- Add more sugar for a sweet version to eat as a snack

- Add even less sugar for a pure savoury version and enjoy with chicken stew or the like.

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Love2Cook's Event Deepavali Delights 2012