By now most of us know the history of Karuppu Kavuni – the fragrant black rice that was brought from Burma to Tamil Nadu by the Chettiar community. The first time I learnt about Karuppu Kavuni was a few months after we moved to Tirunelveli in 2018. It looked so exotic and I decided to buy some to try my hands on it.
I made the Chettinad style Kavuni arisi sweet by soaking the rice overnight. It was sticky, aromatic and delicious . The best part about using a fragrant rice such as Kavuni is that you don’t need anything like ghee or cardamom to enhance the dessert. The aroma of the rice elevates the dish on its own.
But when you buy one kilo of rice and cannot eat desserts frequently what do you do with it? I made kanji a couple of times but as a family we are not very fond of it. So I decided to try making idli but was worried if it would turn sticky because of the glutinous nature of the rice. Used equal proportions of Kavuni and Idli and it didn’t disappoint me. It also excited my toddler because purple mini idlis!
When I was working on breakfasts to offer our guests new Vaanavil Farm Stay, I decided to try making aapam with Kavuni. I used equal parts of Karuppu Kavuni and Vaasanai Seeraga Samba along with a handful of whole skinned black gram and fenugreek seeds.
The aapam batter is fermented overnight. I do not add yeast or baking soda because I enjoy the flavour of naturally fermented batter. You can add any raw rice that you have in hand but I recommend Seeraga Samba because it adds extra aroma to the aapam and it tastes so good!
I love serving these aapams with vellai kuruma, veg stew, egg curry or Tirunelveli Sodhi. No regular sambar chutney for me because you need a good gravy to mop up and enjoy.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Karuppu Kavuni rice 1 cup
- Vaasanai Seeraga Samba rice 1 cup
- Whole skinned black gram 2 tbsp
- Fenugreek seeds 1 tsp
Method
Wash all the ingredients a couple of times under water and soak it for 6-8 hours.
Grind it in a mixer grinder or a wet grinder. Ensure that the batter doesn’t get heated up while grinding. I add either ice cubes or chilled water.
Add salt and let it ferment overnight.
The next day when you make aapams you can add some coconut water if it is available. This adds a mild sweetness to the aapams
The batter should not be thick. It has to be of pourable consistency.
You don’t need an aapam chatti. You can use a shallow dosai pan. Let the centre be thick and the edges thin when you make aapams.
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Check out my Maapilla Samba aapam recipe