Sweet Paniyaram is a popular dish prepared in South India, particularly during festivals like Diwali. An essential part of the cuisines of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, sweet paniyaram is the perfect dish for any occasion, particularly the celebrations. The traditional delicacy incorporates the rich flavors of pulses, bananas, and fresh coconut cooked in ghee. The sweet paniyaram makes the perfect breakfast snack, although people relish it with their evening filter coffee too!
A small variation in the recipe will make spicy paniyarams which along with the sweet paniyarams make a wholesome breakfast dish. If you don’t have a sweet tooth but still would like to try a sweet dish that is authentic, this sweet paniyaram is a safe bet. Filled with subtle sweetness from jaggery and the mellow yet powerful cardamom, this paniyaram is perfect for your mid-day snack as well!
Sweet Paniyaram recipe tastes best when it is hot. Store it in a casserole to keep it warm for hours together.
Health Benefits
The recipe also includes lentils which are great sources of folate and molybdenum. They pack in lots of copper, dietary fiber, and manganese too! Lentils are also rich in protein, iron, vitamin B1, B6, and potassium.
Ingredients
tbsp coconut -chopped finely: 1
green cardamoms - powdered: 2
small banana: 1
cup jaggery - powdered or grated: 1¼
tsp fenugreek seeds: ¼
tbsp white lentils: 1
cup raw rice: 1
ghee ( 2 tbsp per paniyaram pan partition)
How To Make Sweet Paniyaram Recipe
- Clean rice and soak with the fenugreek seeds and urad dal for 2 hours. Add cardamom, jaggery, and banana to the rice mixture and grind in the wet grinder. Add a minimal amount of water to keep the batter smooth. Set aside for some 3.5 hours to ferment.
- Add the chopped coconut to the batter before making the appams. Heat the paniyaram pan and add 2 tbsp ghee to each slot.
- Add the batter in every slot and cook over a low flame. Cook for a while and flip with a stick to ensure even cooking on either side.
- Remove from the pan once golden brown. Repeat the same steps for the remaining batter and add ghee for cooking each batch.
You could also use leftover idly batter in this sweet paniyaram recipe. Add some water to the fermented batter if it is too thick.
Trivia
Our sweet paniyaram recipe relies on lentils for its incredible flavor. Did you know that Aristophanes, the Greek playwright said lentil soup was the “sweetest of delicacies”? In fact, lentils have been used for quite a number of centuries now. They have even been found in Egyptian tombs that are nearly 4400 years old!
Marie Leszczynska, the wife of King Louis XV, popularized lentils among the members of the royal family in the 18th century so much so that they came to be called “the queen’s lentils”!
Interestingly enough, the word “lens” derives its origins from the Latin word for lentils!