Vattayappom / Steamed Rice cake

As each state would have there own specialty food , Vattayappom is one among the specialty dish of Kerala. There are similar rice steamed bread in other states of India too like the Sannas - a similar Goan dish , Paputtu - a similarly made Coorg Breakfast.

Coorg is a beautiful place as Goa , love the cuisine's there , each dish is different , the meat they cook with a cocum/tamarind is mouth watering and the breakfast dishes they have are lovely in looks and taste awesome. Only once have I visited Coorg with my Soccer man and his best friend & family , we didn't book any hotels there as usual , that's Soccer man's deal , sometimes we end up begging the hotel staffs to give us some space to sleep but somehow he manages to arrange a secure place , so far and most probably a very much local set up where ever we are , and that's how we stayed in a house in Coorg. I still relish the taste of food served to us hot from their Kitchen, Soccer man and his friend super happy as they were meeting up after a few years and their wives super happy with a room facing an Orange farm and the Coorg specialty food served hot to us in every 3 hour break and at the last day as usual we realized that we haven't been to any places there in Coorg...

Oh that's the usual realization we have at the end of the trip....we'll pack up hoping to visit the place again.

Vattayappom can be served as a Break fast with stew or Dal / lentils and these are also served as a snack , if intending to serve as a snack , its good if a few dry fruits like Cashew nuts , Raisins are added to it while the process of steaming is half done so that it would stay on top of the Appom/Bread. 

My Na doesn't like all these extra additions so I made it simple with a few Raisins as I knew I'll have to pick'em up before serving'em at my home. 

Ingredients 

Raw White Rice/ Pacha Ari - 2 cups

Yeast - 1/2 tsp

Cooked Rice - 1/2 cup (White rice if possible) 

Grated Coconut or Thick Coconut milk -  3/4 cup (or little more to make a thick batter) 

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp (Optional) 

Sugar - 3/4 cup (or less if served for Breakfast) 

Cardamon - 2 pods crushed (Optional , I didn't use these)

Salt a pinch

Ghee / Butter / Coconut oil to grease the plate to kept for steaming. 

Method

* Wash and soak the raw white rice in water for 4 to 5 hour's. 

*  Drain away the water and grind the soaked rice with cooked rice , grated coconut or coconut milk , sugar, Fennel seeds and cardamom (if using ) , grind to make a thick batter as for Idli (sprinkle little water if using grated coconut) 

* Transfer to a deep vessel , add in the yeast and keep for fermentation in a relatively warmer place like in the oven or microwave. Keep for 5 to 6 hour's ( you'll notice the batter rises.If not in a deep bowl , it may overflow and mess up the place) 

This is after Rising ,the vessel here was just half filled before rising. 

* Add in the salt and mix well. Grease the bottom of a plate with Ghee/Butter or Coconut oil and pour in the batter to this plate till 1/4 of the plate.

*Prepare a steamer or boil water in a wide and deep vessel , and place the batter filled plate on top of the vessel , cover the plate with any lid ( Lid should cover the appom/bread no matter even if the lid is loose) or you may steam these in a pressure cooker too with out the Whistle , must allow steam to escape. 

* If adding cashew nuts or raisins , sprinkle these on top of the half done steamed appom/bread and cover again to steam to to cook till firm.  (Almost takes half an hour in medium heat to be cooked fully) check by inserting a toothpick or fork if it comes our clean its done. 

* Remove the dish from the steamer or else they tent to absorb water and keep it aside to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.Cut'em to desired shape and serve , these stay fresh and soft if kept Air tight for up to 2 days. 

Notes 

         : Make sure the Vattayapom is cooled before cutting'em , if not , it may stick to the knife or tend to break. Though they may seem to be soft and undone , once cooled they become firm and then its easy to cut. Half an hour steaming is enough for cooking, may keep these for another 10 minutes more if desired. 

        : For making this dish easy , can prepare with Rice flour too hence reduce the soaking time, but this one here is more tasty and the traditional way of doing it. Can use this batter for making Appom.(Kerala style Vellayappom) too.

        : Ammamma (Hubby's granny) never used any steaming vessel for making these. Any wide mouthed vessel she uses  , only thing is to keep the batter - filled plate on top so that the steam hits plate and the Appom/Bread is cooked , just cover it with any lid. If not using a steamer , it may take couple of minutes extra to completely cook the Appom , but the Vattayapom comes out equally good. 

Cheers

TN