Naivedyam: Yeriappo~ A Sweet Dish.

“Naivedyam: Yeriappo" ... a sweet delicacy from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared as Naivedyam/ Prasadam during festive occasions ... I prepared these Yeriappo’s today as an humble offering to Shri Hari and Shri Ganesha on the auspicious Ananta Chaturdashi and Ganesha Visarjan Day ... bidding a tearful adieu to Shri Ganesha and seeking blessings ... Ganapati Bappa Morya;. Agle baras tu jaldi aaja ... may Shri Ganesha and Shri Hari remove all obstacles from our lives and bless us with good health and happiness ... 

** Yeriappo, a traditional sweet delicacy from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine is prepared as Naivedyam/ Prasadam to be offered to God on festive occasions. Somehow down the lane its almost forgotten and many are not even aware of its existence or confuse it with"Godu Appo/ Sweet Paniyarams" which are different. Amma used to prepare during Mahalaya Amavasya day to be served to Brahmachari as that day in our home a meal was offered to God and then a small boy/ Brahmachari. 

** It is called Brahmachari Vadapa/ Bhojan. After pooja and offerings to God, Amma used to first feed the Brahmachari and then the rest of us. My Bapama/ grandmother advised this ritual to my amma as she herself used to religiously observe the same. I simply loved this sweet dish similar to appo but larger in size and used to wait eagerly for my turn to relish the same. These are spongy in texture and are a delight to munch on and in Amma's home she prepared these a few times round the year on festive days.

** After my marriage and settling in Thane, in outskirts of Mumbai, I had almost forgotten about it until a few years back when I was preparing appo. Once the thought crossed my mind I just wanted to prepare and have them to fulfill my desire, however was worried of the outcome, after all I had never prepared nor bothered to watch it when prepared. And I must mention that Amma makes them much more beautifully than the one’s I have prepared though luckily and thankfully the taste is the same.

** Yeriappo as the name itself spells is similar to godu appos/ sweet paniyarams we prepare. Both are spongy in texture and differ only in size, however, the difference here lies largely in the ingredients with which these are prepared. About appo, you can check out on the many recipes I have shared in the blog and try them out, but for yeriappo, do try out my Amma's version, its fantastic. For this recipe we use rice, coconut, poha and tuvar dal along with jaggery as sweetening agent and cardamom for flavor. 

** A little bit tedious or should I say time consuming as each one has to be gently deep fried without hurrying the process. Nevertheless, it’s worth it and you are sure to not regret when you taste the same. I make it a point to prepare it at least once a year during any festival day especially those which fall in the period of Chaturmasa. Shri Ganesha loves different varieties of sweets, so do make it a point to prepare this one and offer it as Naivedyam and then distribute it and enjoy with family and friends.

** Here is my Amma's simple recipe for “Naivedyam: Yeriappo" ....

** Wash and soak 1 cup of rice (tandul/ akki) along with 1/3 cup of tuvar dal (tori dal/ tur dal) for about 1 hour or so in plenty of water. Then wash again well in plenty of water and completely drain out the water. Put it in the colander for all the excess water to be drained properly for about 10-15 minutes. Keep this ready.

** Grind to a fine paste in a mixer about 1/3 cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal) with ½- ¾ th cup of grated jaggery (goda/ bella/ gud) without adding water. If absolutely necessary then just add little bit of water for proper grinding. 

** Note : Avoid using excess water as the batter will then turn out a little bit thinner in texture. Also, the jaggery leaves out water as you grind which will be helpful for easy grinding. Again, if you find it difficult to grind at one go in mixer, as some mixers do give problem while grinding jaggery as they trip up, in which case add little by little jaggery and continue grinding till smooth, this helps in even grinding of the ingredients.

** Note : The sweetness to any dish depends upon individual liking. You can increase or decrease the amount of addition of jaggery/ gud/ bella accordingly. For this recipe I have added about ¾ cup of grated jaggery.  

** Now add in the drained rice and tuvar dal and continue grinding till you get a grainy rava textured consistency of batter. Lastly wash and add in a handful of thin (patla) poha (pova/ beaten rice/ avalakki) and continue to grind till well blended. 

** Remove the batter in a wide bowl and add in ½ tsp of freshly ground cardamom (ellaichi/ yellu/ yela pitti) powder and a pinch of salt (namak/ meeta) and mix well. The batter is now ready to prepare yeriappo's. The batter should be thick similar to appo batter consistency. So please be careful with addition of water.

** Heat about ½ liter of oil/ ghee in a thick bottomed deep kadai/ pn, when smoking hot, lower the heat to minimum and wait for a good 5-7 minutes. The oil should not be too hot or the yeriappo may burn out when frying. You can check by adding a small drop of batter into the oil, if it comes sizzling up after 5-6 seconds, then the heat is of right temperature and if it blackens out immediately then wait for a few more minutes before frying. You can always take a knowing persons guidance if you are a newbie. 

** Now with a round spatula or a small tumbler pour about ½ cup of batter gently at the center of the kadai/ pan, taking care to drop it in one go. Do be careful while you add in the batter, do not do so from a height as the oil may splatter. Also it should let rest like a thick round ball in the center of the pan, if the batter is thinner texture, then it is likely to flatten out and spread and will not turn out spongy texture, so be careful. 

** Now, let the yeriappo cook undisturbed for at least a minimum of 3-4 minutes on medium heat as it needs to be cooked well from within too. Then gently flip it over to cook other side, press it with the back of the spatula so that the yeriappo puffs up a bit. When evenly fried to slightly golden brown in colour on both sides, remove with the help of a slotted spatula so that the excess oil/ ghee gets drained back into the kadai. 

** Note : You can also deep fry them in smaller sizes as shown in picture, by dropping them like how we drop batter of bondas/ ambado in oil.

* Place the fried yeriappo on an absorbent paper for the excess oil/ ghee to get properly drained off. Continue the procedure of deep frying the yeriappos with the remaining batter one by one till the batter is used. Do check out on the temperature of the oil often to ensure even cooking of the yeriappos. 

** “Naivedyam: Yeriappo" is done and is ready to be offered as Naivedyam/ Prasadam to God after which you may distribute the same among family and friends. Do try these on the next festive occasion as an offering to God and enjoy them with your family, children are sure to love them and they stay good for a few hours, so you can carry them to office or in lunchbox to be shared with friends. In my home we love it, and I do make it a point to prepare at least twice in a year during festive days. 

** Note : Do finish off the batter and avoid storing the same as there are chances of the batter turning sour on resting. Do prepare them in leisure and do not hurry the process of frying as then the batter may not get cooked from within. This preparation requires a little bit of patience, but I ensure you the end result is simply yumz.

** Note : If you a have a wide deep frying kadai/ pan, then you can fry 3-4 yeriappos at one time if desired. It will save on time if you need to prepare them in larger quantity. However, keep a gap of few minutes between addition of the yeriappo's so that they cook a little bit before you add in the next one. This is to ensure that they do not stick to each other and get stuck while frying. I use small kadai and prepare them simultaneously as I cook other dishes to avoid using excess oil/ ghee if using larger pan. 

** Note : There are plenty of "Naivedaym/ Prasadam" posts shared in the Blog along with other equally tasty dishes. Do browse through in leisure and try them out as and when its convenient to you. Do remember to give me a feedback is possible, it helps get going, also if you have any query you can drop in a comment too.