Palm jaggery / Karupatti aappam from scratch

This is a very old recipe from Tamilnadu. We use palm jaggery (karpatti) instead of white sugar whenever possible, as we are the largest producer of the same:) Here is an aappam recipe using karupatti. Any puzhungal arisi ( par boiled rice ) can be used too.

 see my recipe for making aapam with rice flour , which is much easier.


Ingredients:
rice - 2 cups  + 1/4 cup
urud dal - 2tsp,
fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp(this is to make it soft),
salt - 1/4 tsp,
coconut milk or tender coconut water - 1 cup,
yeast - 1 tsp
baking soda - 1/4 tsp.
Palm jaggery / Karupatti (in tamil)- 1/2 cup crushed

Preparation:
* cook 1/4 cup of rice.
soak the 2 cups rice,urid dal and fenugreek seeds together for 3-4 hours.
Then add the cooked rice and grind nicely.
* Add coconut milk/tender coconut water, salt and  yeast to the flour.

Keep it closed and place in a warm place for 6 hours. I used to make this batter at night by 9 pm and leave inside oven (turn off oven) and in the next day morning when i take it out my kitchen will be filled with a nice aroma.There will be bubbles on the surface and the batter will have risen.
Now take 1 cup of water and add the palm jaggery . Heat it until the jaggery gets dissolved.Allow it to cool. Then take the top layer jaggery fluid leaving the sandy bottom.
Add this mixture to the aappam batter.
Add baking soda just 10 minutes before making aappam each time.
Now heat the aappam pan and wipe a drop of coconut oil all over the pan by using a clean cloth.
Check the thickness of aappam batter now. It should be in the more thin in consistency than that of dosa batter.If not so add some coconut milk or water.
Pour onto griddle, heated medium to low, to form thick pancakes about 4 inches across. Then Shake the pan in a circular motion so that the flour spreads and expands along the edges.(If batter is too thick and does not spread, add a little more milk or water ). The cooked batter forms a layer of 'lace' around the thicker center portion. It is then covered and cooked in it's own steam over gentle heat.I wait to hear a mild "dropping/ cracking" sound of water(condensation of steam) .Now we can be sure that the aapam is cooked.Open the lid.Then by using a dosa spatula (dosa karandi) gently take out the aapam.


Serving suggestions:
Aapam goes fine with coconut milk.Take coconut milk 1/2 can and dilute it with equal amount of water.Spread 1 teaspoon sugar over aapam and add 2 tablespoon coconut milk over the aapam. Enjoy your aapam.
We get nearly 15 number of aapam. You can store the rest of the aapam batter in fridge and use it later if you dont need this much number of aapams.
Aappam can also be served with egg curry or chicken curry or channa dhal curry or even sambar.