Vellai Paniyaram

Thought of starting this year with a very traditional Chettinad dish, for which I had lot of requests. It is the very famous Vellai Paniyaram, without which a function is never complete in Chettinad. People of all age like it very much and goes best with Vara Milagai Chutney or Kara Chutney. It is a fluffy pillow like savory which is usually served in chettinad houses and functions as evening snacks or as one of the dishes in the morning breakfast.

IngredientsRaw Rice - 1 Cup
Parboiled Rice - 1/4 cup
Udad Dal (Ulundham Paruppu) - 1/4 cup
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1 t.sp
Milk - about 1/4 cup
Oil - for frying

Method
Wash and soak the mixture of rice and dal. Grind it in a grinder or in a mixer to a fine batter. Add the sugar, salt and mix. Check the consistency of the batter it should be little more watery than the dosa batter. To get the right consistency add milk as required and mix.Take a deep and round bottomed kadai. Add only enough oil so that the paniyaram can just rise up and is able to float.Heat the kadai on a small burner.Once the oil is medium hot turn the burner to the low mode.Beat the batter with a ladle or a whisk.Now with a round ladle pour the batter in the oil.The Paniyaram will get cooked , rise on its own and float.At this point turn it, let it cook for one more minute and remove.Make it one by one at a time.Serve it hot with chutney.
Points to rememberUse only rice which we use for cooking and not the rice which is used for making batter. Like, do not use idli rice since it is a batter rice and used for cooking. Raw rice also the same thing applies.Do not add too much oil to the kadai.Do not over heat the oil.And always keep the flame on low through out the cooking process. Once in a while if the temperature of the oil goes down very much then you can rise it. Otherwise keep it on low always.Do not touch it in the oil before it starts floating on its own. After it starts floating you pour little, little oil on the top so that it helps in the cooking process.After turning do not cook for long.Your batter is of right consistency if the paniyaram is cooked fully. If it does not get cooked in the centre then your batter is thick, add more milk.If you are not getting the shape of the Paniyaram and it is becoming round like a bonda then it means that the Udad dal content is more.If the Paniyaram becomes rubbery after it becomes cold then the udad dal had been very less.Adding the parboiled rice helps the paniyaram to remain soft even after becoming cold.

This recipe of adding Parboiled rice was given to me by my SL.
You can find recipes of
Another version of Vellai Paniyaram here.
Red Chutney / Tomato Chutney