Nei Appam & Uppu Appam Recipe | Temple Special Food | Prasadam | Karthigai Deepam Special

Karthigai Deepam is an ancient festival of lamps celebrated in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. Its history dates back to 200 BCE to 300 CE in the Sangam Age.

This time-honoured festival has an equally ancient divine recipe to offer to the gods. Nei Appam is a traditional Naivedya dish prepared on Karthigai Deepam.

Appam or Apupa in Sanskrit was a favourite food of the gods, according to our scriptures. It is a fluffy sweet prepared using very basic ingredients of rice, ghee and jaggery. Sometimes other grains such as wheat or maida flour are used instead of rice. In Kerala, people often add bananas or jackfruits to the batter.

However, the main recipe has remained unchanged over the centuries. Watch Archana Chandrasekaran prepare an easy recipe of Nei Appam and Uppu Appam in this video.


NEI APPAM
Ingredients -

Rice - 1 Cup
Water - To soak rice
Jaggery - 3/4 to 1 Cup
Grated Coconut - 1 Cup
Cardamom (elaichi) powder - 1 Tsp
Dry ginger powder - 1 Tsp
Ghee - To fry
Bananas - 3

METHOD:
Soak rice in water for 2 hours
While rice soaks, grated coconut. Crush/grate/shave the jaggery well.
After 2 hours, strain water from the soaked rice.
Mash bananas and add to rice
Add coconut, jaggery.
Mix and grind them to a thick batter consistency
Let it ferment overnight or for 8 hours
Before frying, add dry ginger powder, cardamom powder to the batter.
Mix well
Turn on the stove, keep flame low
Add ghee to Paniyaram Pan or Appe Pan
Fill moulds with batter till they are half-full
Cook for a few minutes on low flame
Gently turn them to the other side with a chopstick or wooden spoon
Once they turn golden brown, transfer to a plate
Repeat process for the rest of the batter

UPPU APPAM
Ingredients -

Rice - 1 Cup
Urad dal - 3/4 Cup
Toor dal - 1/4 Cup
Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1/2 Tsp
Red Chillies - 5-6 (can use extra as per spice level)
Finely chopped coconut - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 2
Salt - to taste

For seasoning:
Mustard - 1 Tbsp
Urad dal - 1 Tbsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp

METHOD:
Soak rice, urad dal, toor dal, fenugreek seeds and red chillies for 2 hours
After 2 hours, strain the water from the soaked mix
Grind it to consistency like dosa batter
Allow it to ferment overnight or for 8 hours
Make a Tadka (seasoning) with mustard and urad dal in oil.
Add it to the fermented batter and mix.
Add green chillies and finely chopped coconut
Turn on the stove and keep the flame low
Add ghee to Paniyaram pan or Appe Pan
Fill moulds with Uppu Appam batter up to half
Let it cook for a few minutes
Gently turn them to the other side and cook for a few minutes
Transfer to plate after it is fully cooked

Happy Karthigai Deepam 🙏

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