Savory Kuzhi Paniyaram / Kaara Kuzhi Paniyaram

How to make easy Savory Kuzhi Paniyaram

                     

                Compete with authentic South Indian Restaurants by serving these famous breakfast/tiffin item from Chettinaad!! If you have not tried making these, you will be surprised to know how easy it is, to prepare these with the Idli batter that's commonly available. All you need is the the Kuzhi Paniyaram Pan  & the rest of it is a breeze. It goes with a variety of accompaniments and it's totally up to you. I served these with Onion-Tomato chutney, simple Coconut chutney & Peerkangai (Ridge Gourd) thuvayal here. Although it's pretty simple, I have elaborated the steps with lots of pictures to help, for the novice cook.

Ingredients

Idly Batter - 2 cups
Oil - 4 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Urad dal, broken - 1 Tsp

Finely cut, Coconut pieces- 1 Tbsp (optional)

Chopped Green chillies- 3

Finely chopped, Red onions - 1

Soaked, Bengal Gram Dal - 1 Tbsp

Chopped, Coriander leaves - 1 Tsp

Chopped, Curry leaves - 1 Tsp

salt - as required

Special Equipment's required:

Kuzhi Paniyaram Pan (or Pancake puffs/balls pan)

Wooden stick

• Soak the Bengal Gram Dal in water for 20-30 mins; drain & set aside.
• Heat some oil in a pan, add the mustard, urad dal & fry them until golden. To this, add the green chillies, onions, curry leaves, soaked channa dal & saute until onions are translucent. Finally add the coriander leaves & coconut pieces and turn off the heat to let it cool down.
• Add the cooled onion mixture to the fermented Idly batter and stir to mix. 
• On medium heat, add 1 Tsp of oil in each Kuzhi & spoon in the prepared batter into each Kuzhi until it's 3/4th full.
• Wait for one side of the batter to be cooked & slightly browned.
• Using the wooden stick & the help of a spoon turn the Paniyaram into each Kuzhi carefully, making sure the batter doesn't spill outside.
• Spoon another 1 Tsp of  oil  around each Paniyaram, so that the oil goes down each Kuzhi & the Paniyaram is cooked evenly.
• After making sure that the bottom of each Paniyaram is cooked, using the wooden stick poke in the center of a Paniyaram to test if the batter is cooked all the way to the core.
• Once you are sure that the Paniyaram's are cooked thoroughly, remove & repeat the process until the batter is all used up.
• Serve hot with a Kaara chutney or your choice of accompaniments.

Tips:

• Make sure you cook the Paniyaram's on Low/Medium heat or else the outer layer will be browned, but the inner batter will stay uncooked.
• If you have a lid, use it to speed up the cooking process.
• Non-Stick pans are ideal, compared to the traditional 'Kal Chatti' as the batter will stick to this 'Chatti', unless you use abundant oil. 

           I recently came across an interesting Culinary Photography Event started by Susan & I am sending the B &W picture in this post to the Black & White Wednesday (week #104) hosted by Simona & organized by Cinzia. You can find my picture showcased - here.

            Sending these over to the 'Dish-it-Out' event started by Vardhini & hosted by Preetha Soumyan.