Chakkapazha Nei appam using rice flour (Unni appam) - Jackfruit Rice Fritters

 As much as mango is crowned as the King of Fruits and relished in summer ,ripe jackfruit is also enjoyed by many in India and world over during summer . Jackfruit is a delicious tropical fruit which can be enjoyed when ripe as well as raw .

Raw Jackfruit (kathal / कटहल) is used widely in North India as a meat substitute in Biryanis,Pulaos and curries while in south India especially in Kerala, raw jackfruit is used in the making of Jackfruit chips , stir fries and papads. Ripe jackfruit is used in various recipes in the Konkani /Manglorean cuisine as well. 

 

Chakka Pradhaman is a very delicious and tasty kheer or paysam prepared in Kerala from ripe jackfruit  and coconut milk.

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Today ,I will be sharing another tasty and traditional recipe from Kerala called as Unniappam or Neiappam with the flavor of ripe jackfruit. 

Unniappam or nei appam is prepared from rice flour and jaggery batter and fried using either ghee , oil or a mix of ghee + oil . To make a vegan version we can skip the ghee and the rest of the recipe remains the same .

The batter is fried in a special cooking apparatus called as Paniyaram pan or Appa kaaral . Aebelskeiwer pan can be used too for this recipe .

For this recipe, we can either soak the rice for few hours in water and grind into a fine paste and use or ready made rice flour also works fine .In today's recipe, I have used ready made rice flour and I was very very happy with the result 

The appams were soft and spongy . Shelf life of these appams in normal room temperature is 2 days while it can stay long under refrigeration. 

Preparation Time - 10 mins
Resting Time - 1 hr
Cooking Time - 5 to 6 mins
Complexity - easy 

Ingredients 
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup grated jaggery
4 to 5 pods of ripe jackfruit 
1/2 tsp cardamom powder 
Ghee and oil for frying  (use only oil for Vegan )

Method 

Preparing the Unniyappam / Nei appam batter 

• Deseed the pods of the ripe jackfruit and remove the seeds . Chop it roughly into small pieces. Makes it easier to grind .
• Dissolve the jaggery in 1/4 cup water and filter it to remove if there are any impurities..I use organic jaggery which is very clean hence I skipped this step .
• Blend the jackfruit and jaggery in a blender to form a nice smooth puree.No need to add water while grinding. 
• Remove this pulp in a wide mixing bowl,add the rice flour and whisk it to form a lump free batter . If you feel the batter is too thick to whisk add a few tsp of water and whisk . 
• Add the cardamom powder and mix it well..rest the batter for an hour in a warm place.  Donot  rest the batter for more than 2 or 3 hrs. In case you are unable to make it within 2 or 3 hours refrigerate the batter immediately. 

How to make the unniyappam / nei appam?

• Heat the paniyaram pan on the stove and fill in each cavity with 1/2 tsp ghee and 1/2 tsp cooking oil or use 1 tsp ghee or 1 tsp cooking oil as per your preference. 
• Once the oil is heated, fill in 3/4th of the cavity with the appam batter and let it cook on slow flame .
• Once the top portion is cooked ,it will appear dry and the appams can be flipped over easily. Carefully flip it over and cook until the other side also turns crispy and golden brown. 
• Remove the appams from the paniyaram pan one by one . Refill the cavity with the oil or ghee and repeat the same steps until all the batter is used up .
• Store it a dry container.  Donot close the lid when the appams are hot ,they will become soggy . Let it cool down completely before closing the lid. 

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