Kuzhi Paniyaram or the Chettinad Kuzhi Paniyaram is most delicious and makes excellent breakfast or afternoon tiffin dish .

The batter is ground specially for the dish .Called as appe , paniyaram, paddu, Gunta Ponganalu, the humble Paniyaram has many names and as many versions .

Kuzhi paniyaram makes an excellent snack for school kids lunch box, as well as a great evening snack with tea .

Usually the dosa or idli batter is used to make kuzhi paniyaram , although many do prefer a separate batter for the dish with the perfect fermentation .

I prefer to make a separate batter for kuzhi paniyaram.

The traditional method was to use heavy iron pan or one made of soapstone . with several pits in either 5 , 7 or 9 and in each pit oil is added and then the batter is dropped in each pit . The batter is usually tempered with mustard seeds, udad dal, some garnishes, chopped onions etc , and such a paniyaram is very tasty . for those interested, soapstone seasoning is a long process of soaking the soapstone ware in a bath of rice starch water , which is changed everyday for almost 7-10 days . Check out the video for how to season soapstone Paniyaram kal below.

Initially a process of coating and scrubbing with castor oil and turmeric powder applied generously to the soapstone must be done , every day for 7-10 days . the starch water bath follows this step .

Paniyaram Recipe | Kuzhi paniyaram recipe | Gunta ponganalu

Well worth the effort and wait ! Finally my new stone paniyara kal ( soapstone / maakal ) got ready for the cooking and I made some super spongy kuzhi paniyaram .

It is not easy the first time and there will be some wastage of batter but it gets better the second time .

Prep Time 8 hours if batter is allowed to ferment
Cook Time 10 minutes on the stone paniyara kal
Servings 12 nos

INGREDIENTS

For the batter with no grind method

3 cups rice flour
( any cup , but keep the same cup for measuring both rice and udad dal flour ) can use idiappam flour which gives excellent kuzhi paniyarams.
1 cup udad dal flour from store
1 tbsp curd ( slightly sour )
1 tsp Eno fruit salt only if you wish to make paniyarams immediately no need to add Eno if prepared batter is allowed to ferment overnight or for 8 hours .
as needed salt
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp chana dal
3-4 nos green chillies with seeds removed finely chopped .
1 no a big onion finely chopped
1-2 tsp finely chopped coriander leaves .
1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion greens
1 small capsicum finely chopped .
oil as needed
kuzhi paniyaram

INSTRUCTIONS

• First prepare the batter by mixing rice flour , udad dal flour with enough water to make smooth lump free batter. The consistency should be like ground idli batter.
  
  If you plan to make kuzhi paniyaram immediately without fermenting batter, then add 1 tbsp of sour curd , salt . add the tempering and sauteed vegetables to the batter prepared, then heat up the paniyara kal , just before adding batter to each pit you must add Eno, stir gently .
  
  If you dont intend to use Eno , then add curd to prepared batter and allow to ferment overnight or for 8 hours till you see a slight rise in batter volume , if you check the batter after 8-10 hours , the batter must have bubbles and look foamy , to show fermentation .
  
  To prepare tempering
  
  Add oil to a pan about 1-2 tsp .

• Splutter mustard seeds, chana dal, add curry leaves, chopped green chillies, add chopped onions .

• Sautee well till onions look like glass, add chopped capsicum, cook till a light crunch , add the spring onion greens finely chopped and remove from gas .

• Add this sauteed vegetables with tempering to the fermented batter, add salt , mix gently .

• Add water to adjust consistency of batter . Keep the paniyara kal for heating on the flame , add oil in each pit , allow the oil to heat well and bubble .

• Now add a ladle of batter in each pit , and cook on medium flame . The stone paniyara kal will take time , so cover and cook.

• After about 10 minutes, the paniyarams will be done , check occasionally to see if the top looks done , with no raw batter, and gently ease out with a spoon , to cook on other side if needed . Usually a skewer is used to pierce the paniyarams and remove .

• A well seasoned paniyara kal will give non sticky paniyarams and the paniyaram kal looks clean after it is removed , but first batch may stick to the pit , so be patient .

• Remove when the top seems dry and done with no raw batter, serve with chutneys .

• Kuzhi paniyarams make excellent starter kind of dish , a great lunch box dish too

Delicious soft kuzhi paniyaram with tiffin sambar with ground batter.( you can grind in mixie too esp for small quantities )

Recipe ...

• Just soak 1 cup rice ( mix of both raw and puzhungal arisi) .

• 1/2 cup udad dal .

• A pinch of methi seeds .

• Grind separately, udad dal should be ground well till thick and foamy, like we do for vadai , rice can be a little coarsely ground batter .

• Mix both , allow to ferment a bit , not too much fermentation required.

• Add tempering of your choice, usual tempering of curry leaves, mustard seeds, chana dal, chopped green chilies, grated ginger , adding finely chopped onions

• Add salt .

• Mix well, prepare in paniyaram kal .

• serve with some spicy chutney, coconut chutney or sambar ,I love it with lots of tiffin sambar.

Given below is a video on steps for seasoning a brand new soapstone paniyara kal ( stone ) , the process is same for all soapstone products .