Vattayappam (Steamed Rice Cake)

Vattayappam is a traditional sweet dish made of ground rice and coconut. These steamed spongy cakes remind me of my childhood as my mom used to make these often, especially during Christmas and Easter.

Introducing my new gadget that I bought from India this year - An all-electric stone Grinder that works on 110Volt... Yes, I was very excited to test it out and tried making my all time favourite, Vattayappam.  I used to dread making it previously because of the grinding  involved and I never could get a consistent texture using a blender. Well, this time the entire process was so stress -free and I got a smooth batter in no time. The best part is that I could switch it on and step away to carry on with my chores :))

Ingredients
2 Cup - Rice
2 Cup - Coconut, grated
1/2 Cup - Cooked rice
1 Cup - Sugar (adjust to your taste)
2 Teaspoon - Yeast
3/4 Teaspoon - Salt
1/2 Teaspoon - Cardamom Powder (optional)
Raisin and Cashew nuts for garnish (optional)
Ghee for greasing the pans

Yields: 3 - Eight inch appams

Directions

• Soak rice in water overnight or atleast for 6 hrs.
• Grind the rice , cooked rice and coconut to a fine paste. The batter should be thicker than appam batter but not as thick as dosa batter.
• In a separate bowl add some yeast and warm water. Keep it aside and mix it to the Vattayappam batter once it it frothy
• Add sugar and salt and let the batter rise.
• After 4 hours or when the batter becomes frothy ladle the batter from the top into greased pans or idly maker. Garnish  with Raisin and Cashewnuts for and steam it for 20 minutes or until it is cooked through.

Notes and Tips

• Adjust the sugar according to your taste. Please note that after steaming the sweetness of vattayappams reduces.
• Make sure you ladle the frothy batter that is on top into the greased dish. This will help you get spongy appams.
• Cardamom Powder is optional.
• Black raisins and cashew-nuts add a nice flavor to the vattayappam.