As you start making dishes from different cuisines, you start observing the similarities between the cuisines and your cuisine. After a couple of months of moving to California we went on a long drive along PCH 1. I was completely bowled over by the scenic route. We stopped along at various missions along the way and of course various food place. During this trip we also visited the danish town of Solvang. I fell in love with that little danish town. Horse pulled buggies, tiny shops selling embroidered articles, beautiful house, small windmills and of course yummy food shops. This is where I first ate the ‘Danish Aebleskivers’. Tiny balls of goodness filled with fruits and dusted with powdered sugar..they are little tiny packets of yumminess.
When I saw these little balls, I was quickly reminded of a similar looking dish from back home, India. In India we also make a dish that looks exactly like these Danish Aebleskivers. The batter is typically made from ground rice, sometimes fermented and sometimes not. The fermented version is usually the savory kind, where as the non- fermented is the one that is sweetened typically with jaggery.
Today’s recipe is a savory indian aebelskiever, ‘Appe’!
I love making food that the kids can pick up and eat on the go, and these fit the bill. You can serve these for breakfast or dress these up as party finger foods. These are healthy, tasty. The batter can be made ahead and so these can be put together in a short time once the batter is ready.
I got this recipe from my younger sister, who got it from her Mom in law. Since I am lazy, I am always looking for options where I can do the prep once but make a few different dishes from it. So I make my own variations like Thai, Chinese, Mexican appe using the same batter.
Ingredients:
1 cup urad daal
1/2 cup chana daal
4 cups rice
1 cup sooji
1/2 cup poha( it is basically cooked, flattened, dried rice grains)
Method:
Soak both daals and rice for at least 5-6 hours, I prefer to soak it overnight. Next morning grind all of these separately. When you start grinding these soak the sooji and poha with just enough water to cover these.
When you grind the rice, grind the poha and sooji with it.
Add
Salt
1 tsp sugar
Let this batter ferment for at least 12 Hours. The batter gets light and airy. It practically doubles in volume.
When you are ready to make the ‘appe’, make sure the batter is of ‘pancake batter’ consistency.
Add
You can pretty much add anything you like. If you want to add something like carrot, it is better to shred it so it cooks quickly. I like to add all the ingredients of chutney
- Finely chopped onion
- Finely chopped cilantro
- Finely chopped Green chilies
- chopped curry leaves
- Fresh coconut
- Cumin seeds
I love adding these, this way you can eat the ‘Appe’ even without any chutney with just a dollop of ghee. 🙂
Make Appe using the Appe pan, you can easily buy them in the indian store. You can also use the aebelskiver pan online, that also works very well.
Add a drop of oil and then add about 1-2 tbsp of batter to make Appe.
I have a little video here that shows how to make these.
Note:
You can also make Appe using ‘Aebelskiever pan’.
Note:
You can make many variations with the same batter.
Mexican appe: I saute various vegetables, add my homemixed taco/fajita seasoning, chopped cilantro and some chipotle and mix everything in the batter. I serve it with Avocado Cream sauce.
Chinese appe: Saute shredded carrots, beans, green onion, thin sliced cabbage. Add soy/chili sauce, and then add it to the batter. You can serve it with store bought schechwan sauce.
Thai appe: I add lemongrass, thai basil along with some vegetables and then serve it with satay sauce.
English 