AMMACHI'S ACHAPPAM

If only you could see me now! I cannot tell you how happy I am to have made this traditional snack at home. I am very excited because I've heard a lot of people saying that it's a palaharam/ traditional snack which is hard to find success in it's first attempt. I must say, I proved them all wrong. This was my very first attempt and I haven't stood next to anyone trying to learn it. All I had was my Grandmother's 'achu' / brass mould + self confidence + an age old recipe.

I vaguely remember Mamma frying the Achappams in her big old kitchen but I very very clearly remember eating them.The clearest of them all was when Mamma bought a huge tin full of her special Achappams to our house. That evening Babitha, my childhood friend came over to play and Amma gave her some Achappam to eat. She always had a big appetite (I hope she doesn't have the time to read this !) and would eat them very soon. Then, she would ask for more! I was a single child for 8.5 years so I didn't like the idea of sharing , a lot. I did share a share of those Achappams but when she asked for more, I clearly remember being disturbed :-)Anyway, the Achappams are long gone now but we are still thick pals.

Unfortunaltely none of us got hold of Mamma's recipe instead Amma has her twin sister, Daisy's mother-in-laws recipe.All of us fondly call her 'Ammachi'...to be specific...Kothamangalathile Ammachi. I remember eating Ammachi's achappams during our 1000 stop overs and sleep overs in Daisy Mummy's house. It used to be very thin, crisp, tender and yummy! I could easily eat a truck load of those because my stomach could never get filled with this light weight palaharam.

One evening, without any specific reasons, I felt like eating Achappams. So I went ahead and soaked my Mamma's acchu in oil, overnight.The next morning, I dialed Amma and got hold of that precious family recipe for this awesome palaharam. I am so glad I tried these because I can now proudly say, I can make Ammachi's Achappams at home! :-)

AMMACHI'S ACHAPPAM
Recipe source: Kothamagalathile Ammachi
Makes 100 achappams

Ingredients
4 c fresh rice flour*
1 c maida/flour
2 c coconut milk, medium thick
6 eggs, beaten
2 tsp black sesame seeds/cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Powdered sugar for dusting
Oil for deep frying

Method: In a large bowl, mix rice flour, maida & coconut milk together. It will be quite thick like Idli batter. Leave it aside for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add beaten eggs , seeds & salt. Mix well.Keep aside.

Heat about 4-5 inches of oil in a sauce pan on medium-high and while doing so, immerse the mould into it. Let it heat up along with the oil. To check if the oil is heated enough, add a drop of the batter into it and if it sizzle up right away, it's ready. Take the mould out of the hot oil and dip just 3/4 th of it into the batter, lift it up and then dip it into the oil. Hold it for a count of 5 and the shake the mould gently to release the achappam. If you are finding it a little difficult, use a skewer/thin knife to help it release. It will go smooth from the second one onwards. Fry till golden. You may or maynot have to adjust the heat depending on the colour of your fried goodies.

Drain on paper towels and when cooled, dust with powdered sugar.Munch away!

* I used Sona Masoori rice. I soaked 3c of rice in tap water for 1 hour,rinsed, spread it over a paper towel and let it dry for 45 mins. Then I powdered it very very fine in my mixie and it was sieved once before using. DO NOT use store bought roasted rice flour.
* A lot of recipes use sugar in the batter but we don't since we don't like the Achappams to turn dark.

Believe in yourself, be it in the kicthen or anywhere and you are bound to find success. That's all I did when I tried this out. When I was measuring and getting the things ready for it, I felt there was someone looking over my shoulders to make sure I was doing it right. I bet it was Mamma, my paternal grandmother. She was an interesting character,who lived to eat and cooked the most amazing Chinese food! Appan still complaints that Amma's fried rice is no where close to Mamma's even though Amma learnt it from her :-)

So go ahead and oil your Achappam mould right away and make these for your family or for yourself and enjoy!

MANGALORIAN CHICKEN GHEE ROAST & NEER DOSA

There are certain killer combos in food, just like made for each other couples!This is one such made for each other combination, in food. The very plain Neer Dosa is made to taste exquiste when paired with a delicious Chicken Ghee Roast.This was one of my most favourite items to order from Coast to Coast,a chain of restaurants in Bangalore which served Mangalorian food.

Being a true Malayali,I love Mangalorian cuisine as we have a lot in common, coconut being the main ingredient.So keeping all the common things aside, let's get into talking about how simple this dish is yet how fantastic it is to taste!

Neer Dosa is made out of soaked and ground rice which is then diluted with water to a very thin consistency, just like water. Neer in Kannada means water and I think it's the consistency of the batter that gave this Dosa it's name :-) Once you cook this dosa, it resembles a very soft lacy pancake! It's pure white and absolutely beautiful!

Chicken Ghee Roast as the name suggests is laden with pure Ghee. Do not even try to substitute maybe you can reduce the amount of Ghee given in the recipe otherwise the taste will be compromised. Therefore, this is not a dish you can eat on a day to day basis but only when the craving strikes or only when you feel like indulging ! That is my way of thinking and yours could be a lot different, so do according to what your heart says! :-) Nevertheless, the end product is finger licking good! Really! You'd be surprised to know how easy it is to make these two yummy items!This is originally from Kundapur, a small town close to Mangalore.

When Isha Narang from Deccan Chronicle interviewed me over the phone , she asked me about my approach to cooking. For me, cooking is pure fun but I do not consider it to be fun if it takes me one whole day to make a curry! It could be a bit of exxageration when I said 'a whole day to make a curry' but trust me, I have seen such recipes! By the end of the day,you would have just made one curry and a sink full of dishes!!According to me, simple is classy!

MANGALORIAN CHICKEN GHEE ROAST
Recipe source: Daijiworld

Ingredients:
1 kg/ 2lbs full chicken, cut into 18-20 pieces

To be ground:
15 dry red chillies soaked in water for an hour (see the picture of the curry to get an idea about the chilies used), drained
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1" stick cinnamon
4 cloves
Lime juice to taste
Salt to taste
Ghee for frying

Method:
Grind together all the ingredients for the marinade using a little water to get a thick, red paste. The colour solely depends of the kind of red chilies used. We call it 'Piriyan Molaku' in Malayalam. It is scrunched up slightly curly dry red chilies.Marinate the chicken pieces in the ground paste for 2-3 hours in the fridge, covered.
Heat about 1/4 c of ghee to start with.Add the chicken pieces and fry on high heat for 3-4 mins. Reduce the heat and then cook covered till done.
There should be some thick gravy left on the pieces and not completely dry. If it has become a bit too dry, adjust by adding some water. Check for the lime juice and salt.

NEER DOSA ( Gluten free)
Recipe source : Amma
Makes about 24 nos.

Ingredients:
1 c short grain rice (Sona Masuri)
Water as needed
Salt to taste

Method:
Soak the rice in water for 3 hours. Grind it to a very smooth and fine paste with water.It should not be grainy.
Transfer it to another vessel and add more water to make a batter of very thin consistency (think water!). Add salt to taste.Leave the batter aside for 2 hours.
Take a non stick pan with sides and heat till you can hold your palm over it comfortably.
Pour a ladle of batter on it and swirl the pan to get a nice round dosa. Since the batter is very watery, you do not have to spread it with a spoon instead you need to swirl the pan around. The dosa will have holes here and there and that's OK!
Cover and cook to fasten the process. Once you see that it's cooked,fold into half to get a semi circle. Fold again to get a triangle. Transfer it to a hot pot/casserole and keep it covered.
If you want, you can oil the pan and repeat the process.
You can make this ahead of time.

Verdict: I won't miss the Coast to Coast Neer Dosa & Ghee Roast anymore! This recipe is perfect! We all loved it and I can't wait to cook this for Jobin :-) Do try this at home, it's very very simple!

Our postman had a big box to carry and deliver today. It had multiple copies of the Sunday Chronicle on which I was featured last Sunday plus a homemade delicious cake by a very sweet reader of mine, Preetha Suju! Gosh, you guys are awesome! I always tell everyone that I have the most awesome sauce readers!! Thank you so much, Preetha! That cake was fantastic!! I mean it :-)