Millet Nei appam recipe | Karthigai deepam recipes

Nei appam | Unniyappam is a traditional sweet generally prepared in our homes for Karthigai deepam, Janmashtami,Ganesha chaturthi, Onam and avani avittam. I have already posted nei appam, wheat appam and many more Karthigai deepam recipes. Two years back, when i learnt the recipe of Traditional Mysore pak from my friend's mom, she told me the recipe of Nei appam too.Though i noted down the measurement of rice:jaggery, i didn't note down anything else. But i remember the way she was explaining to me. So i tried the same using millets instead of rice. Varagu and Thinai will work out very well for sweet appams. I used Samai(little Millet) for making this nei appams and they turned out very well. Check out my full collection of Karthigai deepam recipes.

Millet nei appam

  Preparation Time : 5 mins + resting time 8 hours | Cooking Time : 15 Mins |Makes: 12

     Samai millet | little millet  1/2 cup
     Jaggery    1/2 cup
     Small banana  2
     Cardamom powder  2 pinches
     Coconut bits  1-2 tblsp
     Ghee  4-5 tblsp 
     Salt  a pinch
Method:

• Wash and soak the little millet for 2-3 hours.You can use kuthravali(barnyard millet) or thinai(foxtail millet) or varagu(kodo millet).
• Drain the water and grind this in a mixie till it gets a coarse texture.
• Add the banana and jaggery to this. 
• Grind till the banana gets mashed completely.
• Alternatively you can melt the jaggery with little water and filter it and keep aside.
• Grind the batter with banana and add the jaggery syrup when it is warm.
• Add a pinch of salt and mix well. 
• Let this sit undisturbed for 6-8 hours.  
• Let the batter consistency be like dosa batter.
• Fry the coconut bits in 1 tblsp of oil till they become golden brown.
• You can add 2 tblsp of grated coconut too. Fry this in ghee till golden brown and add.
• Add this to the batter and add cardamom powder.
• Mix well.
• In a paniyaram pan add ghee till it fill 3/4th of the pan.
• Pour one big spoon of batter to the paniyaram pan.
• Keep the flame to medium.
• Cook this till it is done on one side.
• Gently flip this using a fork or a steel stick.
• Cook this till it is done.
• Repeat this for the rest of the batter too.
• These appams will stay super soft inside and crispy outside even after 3-4 hours.

Method with step wise pictures:

• Wash and soak the little millet for 2-3 hours.You can use kuthravali(barnyard millet) or thinai(foxtail millet) or varagu(kodo millet).
• Drain the water and grind this in a mixie till it gets a coarse texture.

• Add the banana and jaggery to this. 
• Grind till the banana gets mashed completely.

• Alternatively you can melt the jaggery with little water and filter it and keep aside.
• Grind the batter with banana and add the jaggery syrup when it is warm.
• Add a pinch of salt and mix well. 
• Let this sit undisturbed for 6-8 hours.  
• Let the batter consistency be like dosa batter.
• Fry the coconut bits in 1 tblsp of oil till they become golden brown.

• You can add 2 tblsp of grated coconut too. Fry this in ghee till golden brown and add.
• Add this to the batter and add cardamom powder.

• Mix well.
• In a paniyaram pan add ghee till it fill 3/4th of the pan.
• Pour one big spoon of batter to the paniyaram pan.
• Keep the flame to medium.
• Cook this till it is done on one side.

• Gently flip this using a fork or a steel stick.
• Cook this till it is done.
• Repeat this for the rest of the batter too.
• These appams will stay super soft inside and crispy outside even after 3-4 hours.

Notes:

1. If the batter is too thick, it will make hard nei appams. 
2. If it is too watery, add 1 tblsp of rice flour to this and bring it to the right consistency.
3. You can add a pinch of baking soda to the batter before making the appams.
4. Raw rice or sona masoori rice can be used instead of millet, to make these nei appams | unniyappam recipe.