Vellai Paniyaram
pale lacy rice-and-urad fritters, crisp at the rim and soft in the middle
Start the day before. The soaking alone is 4 hr, against 45 min of actual work.
Allergens in Vellai Paniyaram: none of the ten listed below.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4.
- 1 cup, raw, soaked 4 hours Ricepacharisi or any raw short-grain rice
- 1/4 cup, soaked 4 hours Urad Dal
- 1 tbsp Rice Flourto tighten the batter if neededoptional
- 1 tsp Sugarhelps the rim colour without browning the whole fritteroptional
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 150ml, for grinding Water
- 500ml, for deep frying Neutral Oil
- 1 tbsp Coconut Oilstirred into the batter for aromaoptional
Cookware
stovetop, kadhai, blender
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Soak the rice and urad dal together for 4 hours; they grind more evenly than when soaked apart for this batter.
- Grind and rest the batter 30 minutes before frying. Unrested batter spreads and tears in the oil.
- Vellai means white, so this batter is not fermented and the fritters should stay pale. Keep the oil at a steady medium.
Method
- Drain the soaked rice and dal and grind with 150ml water to a very smooth batter, stopping to scrape down twice.Smoothness matters here, unlike kandarappam. Any grit and the lacy rim will not form.
- Beat in the salt, sugar and coconut oil, then rest the batter 30 minutes covered.
- Check the consistency: it should ribbon off the spoon and settle back in about 3 seconds. Tighten with rice flour if it is thinner than that.
- Heat the oil in a kadhai to a steady medium. A drop of batter should sink briefly, then rise within 3 seconds without browning.If the oil browns the batter, it is too hot. These are meant to stay white with only a blush of gold.
- Wet a small ladle, pour a ladleful of batter from about 10cm above the oil so it spreads into a disc.
- Fry 2 minutes, spooning hot oil over the top, until the edges frill up and turn lacy.
- Turn once and fry 90 seconds more until the fritter is puffed and set but still pale.One turn only. Repeated flipping collapses the puff.
- Lift onto a rack, salt lightly if you like, and fry the rest three or four at a time.
- Serve hot with a thin coconut chutney or, in the Chettinad way, alongside a peppery mutton kuzhambu.
Storage
Eat within an hour. They soften as they cool. The unfried batter keeps 2 days refrigerated; bring it back to room temperature and whisk before frying.
Nutrition Good estimate
One serving of Vellai Paniyaram (125 g) is about 417 calories, or 335 calories per 100 g.
Low protein: 6 g a serving, 6% of the calories
| Per serving125 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 417 kcal | 335 kcal |
| Protein | 6.1 g | 5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 50.3 g | 40 g |
| of which sugars | 1.3 g | 1 g |
| Fibre | 2.0 g | 2 g |
| Fat | 21.1 g | 17 g |
| of which saturated | 4.7 g | 4 g |
| of which unsaturated | 15.3 g | 12 g |
Nearest database match used for urad dal. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Vegan Indian recipes · Vegetarian Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · Dairy-free Indian recipes · No onion no garlic recipes · Tamil Nadu recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.