July 17, 2008

Aasa Dosai Appalam

Here is a very spiritual song inspired by the Golden discs of delight - appalam song and here is Appalam Chappalam and here I give you mine-

This Crunchy munchy treat,
Lifts your spirits when you are beat,
Like a snack some eat,
I think this rhyme should stop and retreat.

Appalams-
Source
Ambika and the local Brahmin street / area contact ( I have one) are the best. Bindu, Dots and Maanmark are the other known brands but i avoid them.
For poppadam go to the friendly Kerala Chips guy nearby or the Malayallee shop in your vicinity

Formats
You have the regular appalam ( which can roasted or fried or microwaved) rettai appalam, appla poo ( flowers)
Popadamas have a low shelf life both raw and fried . They cannot be roasted and are just fantastic with sevai/ avial/ Kerala cuisine

Flavours
You do not find too many variations in flavour in the south relative to the north Indian Papad. You can have a generous heaping of jeera or not.
But you do have alternatives such as the maracheeni ( tapioca/ kappa) appalam ( sometimes tempered with mud!! ) , jackfruit applam and pure rice applam ( neither can be roasted as i know)

Check this very moving blog out while it also brings the magic of poppadam alive

Papad
Any super market sells it. Synonymous with Lijjat for a long time you have other brands now and even the South Indian Ambika makes its Lijjat style papad
Flavours galore- With or without garlic, with pepper, methi, punjabi masala, jeera etc etc
Thanks Alan I visited this site and learnt more- and do NOT miss the jingle of yester years

Vadaam/ Vethal
Cousins of Appalam/ papads, it comes in smaller fritter size protions and eaten usually like wafers or with food.
Made in an assortment of vegetables( okra/ and/ or rice - gram flour. Some can also be fried and used in gravies such as " menthiya kozhambu"

10 comments:

Choxbox said...

utterly cute laxmibai you have there :)

Shobana said...

Any reason why you avoid these brands? What is the difference between appalams and poppadams?

Alan said...

Just peeked in the cupboard. Interestingly we have a couple packs of Lijjat papads (jeera flavor) sitting in there. I don't know the significance of the pink bunny rabbit on the wrapper.

Artnavy said...

alan- no link with playboy I assure you

just their mascot- it is infact one of teh most successfukl cottage industries we have here providing lots of home based employment to women

shobana- applam is rice urad combo does not puff up like a puri even when fried and has a long shelf life

poppadam- has a 2 day shelf life even when it is not yet fried , puffs like like a puri and has lots of soda to do so

Artnavy said...

thanks choxbox:-)) i do not know when her craze for paavadai chattai will stop

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Agree with the overall analysis on appalams, but rice appalams can certainly be roasted - you just need to be quick, turning the appalam over rapidly on a low flame. Alternatively you get slightly thicker rice appalams, that can be roasted more easily - I get all mine from ILs in Trichy :-)

M

Blogeswari said...

Yummy post! Am addicted to home made microwaved marachini appalam

Alan said...

Nice link. Appears to be a very good organization. We've tried other papads, but always come back to the pink bunny brand. They are the best.

Artnavy said...

blogeswari-tnx

alan- lijjat for north indian ones
and ambika for south indian style

anon- tnx for that input- i will try

binitha said...

Good work ji...I have my appalams from sanjoos appalams. One of my friend referred me this as I had a taste of it from Adyar Sangeetha Hotel in Chennai. For more details you can visit...www.sanjoosappalam.com