Kuzhi Paniyaram

In my house, any day of the week you open the refrigerator, there will always be some idli-dosa batter in there. I just find it convenient to keep some batter handy, be it for packing lunch for my husband or kid, or for making weekend dinners after spending the whole day out.

But sometimes, very little batter is left over and it tends to get sour after a week or so. Then, I use that leftover sour batter to make kuzhi paniyarams (or uppu appams). This is a quick and easy snack that my son loves and so do I!

Sometimes I make it with onions, sometimes I make it just plain. If the batter hasn't soured but I still want to make paniyarams, then I add a tablespoon of sour cream to it and that does the trick as far as getting the sour taste is concerned.

I love making this as an after school snack for my kid, though sometimes I just add some steamed carrots and peas to it as well, just to sneak in some veggies! You could also add freshly chopped cilantro (coriander leaves). I was out of cilantro, so did not add any.

I make these in an appa kaarai which is a special vessel with molds used for frying appams. If you don't have an appa kaarai, simply drop spoonfuls in a vessel with hot oil for deep frying.

Preparation:15 minutes to soak Chana Dal                Cooking: 10 minutes             Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
Left over Idli/Dosa Batter - 1 cup
Rava/Sooji - 2 tablespoons
Chana Dal/Bengal Gram Dal - 2 tablespoons (soaked in water for 15 minutes)
Green Chilli - 2 (ground into a paste)
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, minced fine
Onions - 1 small, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying the kuzhi paniyarams

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients mentioned above, except the oil.

• Heat the oil in an appa kaarai and pour tablespoon of batter into each of the molds/holes.

Let it cook till the lower side turns brown, then turn it over.

• Cook this side also until done, then remove them from the oil and drain them out on absorbent paper or paper towels.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney.