Vattayappam-Steamed Cake With Rice Flour

Grated  coconut and extracted the first milk(500 ml) by blending it in the mixie and then sieving through the sieve as shown above,do squeeze the coconut in the sieve with the back of a spoon, you will get atleast a tbsp of milk just by doing that.

Set aside the first milk that has been extracted. The same grated coconut with some more water is again placed in the food processor and the second extract(250 ml) is also collected in another cup. These are also known as the First milk and the second milk extracts from the coconut.

Do make the Kappi as well-Boil 150 ml of water,add 50 gms of rice flour, cook on low flame, till it thickens and gets to the consistency of  porridge, remove from the fire and leave it to cool at room temperature.

You can also start from scratch by soaking raw rice and then blending it, I have instead taken store-bought Rice flour/Appam Podi-the recipe calls for 500 gms, I have as usual eyeballed and taken the flour.

Do soak quarter tsp yeast in lukewarm water and allow it to ferment. In the above picture, I have mixed the flour as well as half a kilo sugar, to it I added the first extract of the coconut milk and kneaded it well.

The Kappi was then added followed by the fermented yeast and mixed thoroughly. An important point to note-my observation, is that unlike in the recipe from the book, as I still felt quite a few stubborn lumps of rice flour and the Kappi, despite constant mixing, I sieved the batter again before allowing it to stand for fermenting.

Finally, the second coconut milk extract was added to form a smooth batter like so and left to ferment for seven hours.

After seven hours, it will look like this, add quarter tsp salt and do mix well with a ladle. Taste for sweetness,and do add more if you feel.



This is my oval vessel that I have oiled well so as to pour the fermented batter.



This is my round vessel :) and below is my steamer in this case my Idli vessel. The batter should be poured in shallow dishes, fill only quarter of the dish as it will rise as it steams and cooks through.
I have also used my Idli mould to get the round shapes which  have the tutti-frutti garnish :) be creative!

Credit goes to this book from where I got the recipe and tried to replicate the same.

Syrian Christian Favourites by Thressi John Kottukapally and Salim Pushpanath. Thank you indeed for the lovely and healthy delicacy!

My Twist and not in the book-Midway while it steams, you can add raisins, nuts,candied fruits or just leave it plain. The choice is yours! And then close the lid and let it continue to steam till you feel it has cooked through.

That's my plain steamed Cake.

I dedicate this post to my sister, with whom I had a casual conversation two years back and I reminisced a childhood gone past where my late mother who was the most expert cook in my eyes, used to make this lovely delicacy! and we would have them with some spicy chicken curry or egg curry.

My sister presented me this book nearly two years back thinking I would eventually learn and make this as I wasn't sure of the recipe and Mummy didn't live long enough to hand it down to me:(

It took me two years to flip through-made other recipes from the book but always had some inhibitions with this lengthy recipe...but the inspiration came in the form of a challenge(thks KPB!) in a forum that I am a part of and saw many entries pouring in...and I for once wanted to join the bandwagon because I had a tried and tested recipe( by someone else) I had only tasted it...and this was my first attempt!
Sister of mine! I know you are too busy to read my blogs but if ever you do in your lifetime, perhaps when I am not around-this is dedicated to you! thanks for wonderful childhood memories!

Note: instead of yeast, toddy is usually used "HIC"