Do you love paniyaram/savory appe? Then here comes a must-to-try recipe. Morappam | Kuzhi Paniyaaram – Palakkad fame savory appe loaded with coconut and onion, prepared with the unique mix of rice, urad dal and channa dal batter. Even though this filling paniyaaram is a famous evening tiffin, you can fit this in your breakfast or lunch meal plan. Now let’s learn how to prepare the morappam batter from scratch and different variations.
Mor + appam is morappam. It is savory appe or paniyaaram prepared with sour buttermilk or yogurt. This is very popular in Kerala, especially the Palakkad region. I think Kalyani posted this recipe during the last BM. When I was running out of lunch box ideas, her recipe came to rescue me. I tried her version but with slight variations and it was a huge hit. From then on, morappam is one of our staple lunch box recipes. Wondering what kept me from posting it?
Last year, we decided to ditch all the non-stick cookware, and we did that successfully. Now I use copperware, iron skillets and pans and our traditional steel vessels. I had to let go of my non-stick paniyaaram pan also, and it was quite hard to find the replacement. The soapstone pans were very costly here in the US, so I decided to wait until my next India trip.
Kiddo loves paniyaaram, and last year, in the lunchbox series, I posted the Mushroom Paniyaaram. We all were craving for some paniyaarams. But without the pan, I couldn’t prepare anything. Luckily, I came across this Cast Iron Aebleskiver on Amazon, and without any second thought, I ordered it. Guess what I prepared first, this morappam. I had some mushroom recipe for the alphabet M, but I moved it to draft and here comes the Morappam recipe for M. :-)
Morappam | Kuzhi Paniyaaram
Morappam | Kuzhi Paniyaaram – Palakkad fame savory appe loaded with coconut and onion, prepared with the unique mix of rice, urad dal and channa dal batter.
Ingredients:
- For the Batter:
- Raw Rice – 1.5 cups
- Urad Dal – ½ cup
- Channa Dal – ¼ cup
- Aval / Poha / Flattened Rice – 2 tbsps
- Salt – 1.5 tsps
- Water – 1 to 1.5 cups
- Other Ingredients:
- Grated Coconut – 2 tbsps
- Finely Chopped Onion – 2 tbsps
- Finely Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsps
- Green Chili – 2
- Yogurt – ¼ cup
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Oil – 1 tsp for tempering + as required for making the morappams
- Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
- Curry Leaves – 5
- Hing – ½ tsp
Prep – Work:
- Chop all the required veggies including chili and set aside.
- Tear the curry leaves into small pieces.
Preparing the Morappam Batter:
- Soak 1.5 cups of raw rice, ½ cup urad dal, ¼ channa dal, 2 tbsps of poha for 3 to 5 hours.
- Wet grind the rice and lentil mixture into a smooth batter.
- Add salt and set it aside. As we add yogurt or buttermilk, fermentation is not required but no harm in fermenting. As it’s hard for me to prepare the batter in the morning, I usually make it in the night and set it aside.
Tempering:
- Add the yogurt, chopped onion, cilantro, grated coconut, chopped green chili, curry leaves broken into small pieces.
- In a tempering pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and hing. When they splutter add it to the batter.
- Mix them and if required add ¼ cup of water. The batter consistency should be in between idli and dosa batter consistency. Instead of water, you can add buttermilk too.
Preparing the Morappams:
-
Heat the appe/paniyaram pan and grease each mold with oil.
-
Once it is hot, fill ¾ of the mold with the batter and let it cook for a minute and a half. (see notes for cooking time)
-
Using the paniyaram stick, flip the paniyarams and let it cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute.
-
Then carefully remove it from appe pan. Similarly, prepare morappams with the remaining batter.
-
Serve hot with chutney or with ketchup. :-)
Notes:
- Morappam takes comparatively longer time to cook than regular kuzhi paniyaaram. Also, it was the first time on cast iron; it took me some additional time as well. Usually, when the bottom side is done, the edge will come out automatically. You can flip the morappams then.
- As I mentioned before, you don’t need to ferment this batter. You can add sour buttermilk or yogurt and prepare them.
- If using buttermilk, be careful with adding water while grinding.
- Adjust salt and spice, as per your preference.
- Instead of preparing in an appe pan, you can fry them as well. I came across few fried morappam recipes as well.
- Onion is not mandatory. I have prepared with and without onion.
📖 Recipe
Morappam | Kuzhi Paniyaaram
Ingredients
For the Batter:
- 1.5 cups Raw Rice
- ½ cup Urad Dal
- ¼ cup Channa Dal
- 2 tbsp Aval / Poha / Flattened Rice
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1.5 cups Water
Other Ingredients:
- 2 tbsps Grated Coconut
- 2 tbsps Finely Chopped Onion
- 2 tbsps Finely Chopped Cilantro
- 2 Green Chili
- ¼ cup Yogurt
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Oil for tempering + as required for making the morappams
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 5 Curry Leaves
- ½ tsp Asafoetida
Instructions
Prep - Work:
- Chop all the required veggies including chili and set aside.
- Tear the curry leaves into small pieces.
Preparing the Morappam Batter:
- Soak 1.5 cups of raw rice, ½ cup urad dal, ¼ channa dal, 2 tbsps of poha for 3 to 5 hours.
- Wet grind the rice and lentil mixture into a smooth batter.
- Add salt and set it aside. As we add yogurt or buttermilk, fermentation is not required but no harm in fermenting. As it's hard for me to prepare the batter in the morning, I usually make it in the night and set it aside.
Tempering:
- Add the yogurt, chopped onion, cilantro, grated coconut, chopped green chili, curry leaves broken into small pieces.
- In a tempering pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and hing. When they splutter add it to the batter.
- Mix them and if required add ¼ cup of water. The batter consistency should be in between idli and dosa batter consistency. Instead of water, you can add buttermilk too.
Preparing the Morappams:
- Heat the appe/paniyaram pan and grease each mold with oil.
- Once it is hot, fill ¾ of the mold with the batter and let it cook for a minute and a half. (see notes for cooking time)
- Using the paniyaram stick, flip the paniyarams and let it cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute.
- Then carefully remove it from appe pan. Prepare morappams in a similar way with the remaining batter.
- Serve hot with chutney or with ketchup. :-)
Notes
- Morappam takes comparatively longer time to cook than regular kuzhi paniyaaram. Also, it was the first time on cast iron; it took me some additional time as well. Usually, when the bottom side is done, the edge will come out automatically. You can flip the morappams then.
- As I mentioned before, you don't need to ferment this batter. You can add sour buttermilk or yogurt and prepare morappams.
- If using buttermilk, be careful with adding water while grinding.
- Adjust salt and spice, as per your preference. Instead of preparing in an appe pan, you can fry them as well. I came across few fried morappam recipes as well.
- Onion is not mandatory. I have prepared with and without onion.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
These paniyaram looks so cute.. perfect for lunchbox meal. Awesome recipe.
Thank you.
These paniyaram looks so cute.. perfect for lunchbox meal.
Thanks.
Kuzhipaniyaram is a family favorite and I make it whenever I have some extra dosa batter. I came to know about this version through a cookbook and we loved that one too. So nice that kiddo likes to take this for lunch!
Thanks, PJ. :-) Paniyaaram is one lifesaver for me.
This paniyaram is really an interesting one. My mother uses yogurt to grind the batter but I did not know there is aversion where the yogurt was added later.
I love all varieties of paniyaram and will remember to try your version sooner.
I agree, there are different varieties of paniyaaram na. :-)
Kuzhi paniyaram is a regular in our lunch boxes as well. The kids love it as it is easy to eat. I like this batter and will definitely try to make this next time.
Thanks, Sandhya. Agree about the kuzhi paniyaram. :-)
Wah re wah what am amazing appam with Mor, looks so tempting vidhya !! I love paniyarams a lot actually coincidence is we just had paniyaram for breakfast today but this paniyaram are still tempting me badly !! Such amazing flavor of coconut with this buttermilk paniyaram I can just smell them here :D vaai urrudhe !!
:-) We love paniyaarams too. Thanks, Manjula.
Making this paniyaram with sour yogurt is interesting. I love paniyaram. Quite different from the paniyarams I’ve made so far.
Yeah, that’s the key ingredient here. :-) Thanks Mayuri.
Ah until you separated those I was wondering how I have never heard this dish..:)..that surely sounds a good dish..
Thanks, Valli.
hey I made this last BM i think and loved it. this kind of quick snacks are always welcome – both to cook and devour :)
Oh yeah… Learned it from you only Kalyani. Mentioned you on the post as well. :-)
Those Palakkad paniyaram look awesome Vidhya. My daughter who’s fussy about idli and dosa, does not mind paniyaram. I have to try these for the kids some time. Question: do you taste the yogurt in the paniyaram?? Thank you
No Pavani, I used plain greek yogurt and I did not taste the yogurt at all. You can buttermilk also.
Thanks Vidhya. Will definitely try these sometime.
WE call it bombs vidhya, kuzhi paniyaram is a definite breakfast once in a week for kids dabba!!! Love this instant paniyaram ! though i have heared about this, never tried at home, Bookmarking!!! paniyaram with some coconut chutney sounds like heaven!!!
ha ha bombs is a good one. :-)
Love the addition of coconuts to this morappam.. Unga Paniyaaram pan mela oru kannu… Nice!!
he he Thanks da.
I love savoury paniyaram so much. That too with lots of onions, I would die for them. These morappam looks super inviting and I would love to have some now…
Thank you, Gayathri. :-)
The ingredients in morappam sound interesting. I am sure it would be a delightful addition to their lunch boxes.
Thanks, Harini.
I like what you did with your non stick pans..Even I dont have any ..except just one nonstick tawa..I like the iron pan that you have used for appe..Must get one of those. Choosing the perfect cookware is important..anyway I like this appe batter and these little beauties look fantastic for a lunch box.
Thanks much Vaishali. :-)
I do love paniyaram both sweet and savory version, often make them with leftover dosa batter. This paniyaram batter is quite different from what i usually make, will give it a try on sometime. Paniyaram looks soft and delicious!!
Yeah, this is the Palakkad style one. Please do try and let me know how your liked it.
I would love to have this kuzhi paniyaram with some spicy coconut chutney anytime of the day, even grown up kids like me will thoroughly enjoy this sort of dish in my lunch box. Tempting.
Thanks, Priya.