PEECHAPIDI

                                             

This was one of the evening time snacks that was made by my grandmother during summer holidays , along with kappa and ulli chammanthi(my favorite ), chappathi -veg.curry , chakka ada , and sometimes meat puffs bought from the bakery(again my favorite!!!). Peechapidi was given alongside thick jaggery syrup , to dip in and eat.I hated this snack . All my cousins used to polish it off except  me . I was a picky eater back then. But now my taste buds have evolved and I like this peechapidi dipped in thick jaggery syrup.Maybe because it brings back my childhood memories!!!. It's very simple to make .Maybe that's why it was made ever so often because my grandfather had a large family . We were 17 grandchildren . So anything that was made had to be in made in bulk. And  a glass jar full of jaggery was always available in the pathayam(pantry). 

INGREDIENTS - same recipe as idiyappam

1. 1 cup appam/idiyappam powder( I have used store bought flour)
2. 1 -1/2  cup boiling water(just hot water is not enough , it should be boiling)
3. 1/4 plus 1/8 tsp salt

METHOD

• Take the flour in a bowl suitable for withstanding hot water. I use store bought flour . Different packets require different amount of water. So if you are opening a new packet , start with 1-1/2 cups of boiling water. After making it into a dough , you will get an estimate of how much water is required for flour in that packet.
• Stir in salt into the flour. Use the tip of a spoon or ladle to mix the flour with salt.
  

• Add boiling water to the flour. Don't add all of it at once. As you add the water , keep stirring the flour with the back end of the spoon or ladle. The flour will start to come together into a dough. When dough is wet and there's no dry powder at the bottom of the bowl , that's when you can stop adding the water.(1-1/4 cup water would be sufficient for most flours).
  

• At this point , you can either wait for the dough to cool down a little bit (about 5 minutes) , and knead the dough all together , OR you can start out by pinching out a small part of the dough, making it into a smooth ball .

• Pinch out a small piece from the dough and roll into a small ball. Then using the palm of your hands flatten the ball so that the dough gets an imprint of all your 4 fingers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Put the steamer basket with water for boiling. Meanwhile put the peechapidis in the mould . After the water boils and steam comes out , put the moulds in the steamer basket and steam for 5 minutes.

  

  
  

  

  
  

• Serve with jaggery syrup.