Pesaha / INRI Appam with Paal (Traditional Unleavened Bread for Maundy Thursday)

Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter to commemorate the Maundy or Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of the Holy Week, followed by Good Friday and is always between 19 March and 22 April (inclusive), with these dates falling on different days depending on whether the Gregorian or Julian calendar is used liturgically.

Pesaha Appam is the unleavened Passover bread made by the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala (India) to be served on Passover or Maundy Thursday night and has its origins from the ancient Jewish tradition of making unleavened Passover bread. It is made from Rice, Urad Dal and is not fermented with yeast, in its preparation. Traditionally, Pesaha Appam is served in a ceremonial manner on Passover night in Syrian Christian households where the head of the family cuts the appam, dips it in Pesaha Pal (Passover milk), and serves it to family members for supper.

Makes - One 7" round appam 1/2" thick or 5" round almost 1" thick

Ingredients

For Appam

¼ Cup - Urad Dhal

3/4 Cup - Roasted Rice flour (Refer Notes)

3/4 Cup - Coconut

½ Tsp – Jeera Powder

1 small clove - Garlic
1 - Shallot (optional)

Salt
Ghee or coconut for greasing the dish

For Paal / Kurukk

1 Can(14oz)/ 400ml - Coconut milk or Fresh thick coconut milk

3/4 Cup - Karripetti / Jaggery

2 Tbsp - Rice flour

1 pinch - Dry Ginger powder (Chukku)

1/4 Tsp – Cardamom powder

Directions

For Pesaha Appam

• Soak the Urad dal in water for 2 hours
• Add the Urad dal, coconut, shallots, garlic and jeera into a fine paste and transfer it to a bowl.
• Mix the batter with rice flour and add just enough water to bring the batter to the same consistency as Idly batter
• Pour the batter into a greased dish. (If you have fresh banana leaves, line the dish with the leaves and pour the batter over it)
• Place the Palm Cross over the appam. 
• Steam it for 15-20 minutes or until done.

For Pesaha Paal

• In a nonstick saucepan, melt Karripetti / Jaggery in 1/2 cup of water. After it melts strain it.
• Add coconut milk, rice flour, ginger powder and cardamom powder to the melted Karripetti / Jaggery
• Transfer it to heat and keep stirring until the mixture thickens.

Notes and Tips

• You can use the homemade roasted rice flour(varrutha arri podi) or commercial appam/iddiappam podi
• Adjust the amount of jaggery or karipatti in the pesaha paal to achieve the desired level of sweetness
• If you dont have jaggery or karipatti, try using brown sugar
• You can increase the amount of jeera in the appam to your taste. I personally like to keep those flavors mild so that it is not overpowering when eaten with the Pal.
• Use a very small clove of garlic