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    Home » Recipes » Idli | Dosa

    Olaiappam | Sweet Idly - Pondy Breakfast

    Published: Apr 23, 2014 · by Nisha

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Pondy short and sweet for Pondicherry, is a lovely coastal region located in Southern India. I have few colourful memories of this lovely place. Since my paternal aunt and my very close friend reside there, I am very much familiar with the place. The very first thing that reminds me of Pondy is their french-grid -pattern streets. Those perpendicular streets that seems to cut across the sea and merge at the horizon, never failed to amuse me. No other city in Tamil Nadu follows this pattern, as far as I know. The next best thing is the obvious beach. Though you can never enjoy the water as you could in Chennai or in other coastal areas, the wet smell of the sand, the pleasant wind that breezes the face and the roaring sound of the water hitting the shore are all memories for lifetime. We would walk down the beach road enjoying the street fairs, ice cream shops, and Mangai Kadalai sundal. Cousins and uncles and aunts, the entire family clan would go out in the evening and stuff ourselves. Childhood days are indeed a bliss.
    Olaiappam | Sweet Idly - Pondy Breakfast

    Though pondy is very familiar to me, I was totally stumped when it came to deciding about pondy dishes. I don't have any recollection of my aunt or my friend making or mentioning any speciality items and even if my aunt had, I would have been very young to remember. It was until Priya mentioned that the regional cuisine is a mix of Andhra, chettinadu and even Bengali with a slight French touch, I assumed most of the regional dishes had to be non-veg due to heavy French influence. Thanks to her I found a delectable morning meal from this region. This recipe is adapted from here and here.

    Olaiappam | Sweet Idly - Pondy Breakfast
    Print
    Olaiappam | Sweet Idly - Pondy Breakfast
    Sweet version of Idly with roasted moong dal and grated coconut.
    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: Indian, Tamil Nadu
    Author: Nisha
    Ingredients
    • 1 Cup Idly Mavu | Batter thick (1)
    • 4 tablespoon Sakkarai | Sugar 2
    • ¼ tsp Cardamom powder
    • 2 Tbsp Pasi parupu | Moong dal roasted
    • ¼ Cup Thengai Thuruval | Grated Coconut roasted
    • For side optional (3)
    • 1 Cup Coconut Milk
    • Sugar as needed
    Instructions
    1. Separately, roast the dal till it turn golden brown and coconut slightly roasted. Mix sugar, cardamom powder in the batter.
    2. Grease the idly plate with oil. Ladle the batter into the moulds. Do not overfill it. Top with the roasted dal and coconut on each. (4)
    3. Steam it for about 10-12 minutes on medium high heat, until toothpick inserted comes clean.
    4. Allow it to cool completely and then remove the idlys from the mould.
    5. Serving (Optional)
    6. Mix coconut milk and sugar. Just before serving, dunk these idlis in them and serve.
    Recipe Notes
    1. The batter should be really thick and do not make this with sour batter. Allow for minimum fermentation of batter after grinding. While grinding the batter at home, do not add too much water, as the sugar might make it very watery. For instant preparation, add yeast like in the preparation of Goan Sanna and follow the rest of the process.
    2. You can substitute sugar with jaggery if you prefer. Vary the amount of sugar | jaggery as per your sweet preference.
    3. Serving them with coconut milk is optional. This is not the traditional way. Since I felt it will taste like "Aappam", I served it the same way with coconut milk.
    4. Since you add the topping, do not fill the mould with batter completely. The batter will rise during steaming and it might get stuck to the bottom of the plates that are placed above each. Give some room for it to rise.

    This post falls under Pondicherry, a union territory in South India. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 39

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kavi says

      March 04, 2018 at 9:17 am

      Wow.. very nice... I was searching for this recipe and found it here... Am from pondy but lives in france. Thought of making surprise to my kid, I tasted this dish many times but don't know about the ingredients... well.. thanks a lot..

      Reply
      • Nisha says

        March 04, 2018 at 10:17 am

        Am glad you found it. 🙂 Do try and let me know how it turned out and I bet your kid would be more than happy when you surprise him.

        Reply
    2. vaishali sabnani says

      July 10, 2014 at 10:11 am

      Wow wow..how could I ever miss this..this is an awesome post..beautifully done..and absolutely new..never heard about these Pondi Idlis..super Nisha.

      Reply
    3. Jayanthi Padmanabhan says

      June 16, 2014 at 11:32 am

      sweet idlis are really unique.. you always manage to pick out the rarest dishes for each state..

      Reply
    4. Archana Potdar says

      June 09, 2014 at 2:27 pm

      Wow love the intro . Childhood was indeed bloss. Idli look yum. Will try them on hubby asap.

      Reply
    5. Chef Mireille says

      May 15, 2014 at 2:57 pm

      a different and delicious looking idly - love your childhood memories also

      Reply
    6. Suma Gandlur says

      May 11, 2014 at 6:00 pm

      Just yum.
      Never heard about this sweet idlis. Usually i am left with extra idli batter when I make idlis. Should remember to try this.

      Reply
    7. Usha says

      May 08, 2014 at 3:35 am

      enjoyed reading your childhood memories. sweet idly are quite inviting. Nice recipe

      Reply
    8. Harini-Jaya R says

      May 06, 2014 at 11:23 pm

      Love the sweet version of idli.

      Reply
    9. Gayathri Kumar says

      May 04, 2014 at 4:12 am

      Totally new to me. The olaiappam looks so inviting..

      Reply
    10. Pavani N says

      April 30, 2014 at 6:35 pm

      Loved reading your memories from Pondicherry Nisha. Sweet idlis sound delicious.

      Reply
    11. Srivalli says

      April 26, 2014 at 12:48 pm

      wow Nisha, I love your plating..that's a lovely idea to place it with the tray..and a very new dish never read about this..shows how much more to know and cook..:)

      Reply
    12. Nivedhanams Sowmya says

      April 25, 2014 at 9:48 am

      childhood days are a bliss!!! beautiful memories!! and this sweet idli is super good and tempting..

      Reply
    13. Varadas Kitchen says

      April 24, 2014 at 2:17 am

      Enjoyed reading your childhood memories. The idli look really good, that is a very different way of presenting idlis.

      Reply
    14. GEETHA ACHAL says

      April 23, 2014 at 2:06 pm

      Thanks for trying this recipe...Such a wonderful and tempting ones...

      Reply
    15. Priya Suresh says

      April 23, 2014 at 8:48 am

      Olaiappam is our favourite sunday breakfast, its been a while i prepared them, wonderful you have ur family members there..

      Reply
    16. The Pumpkin Farm says

      April 23, 2014 at 3:26 am

      this is a cool recipe, it must have tasted great but it looks even better

      Reply

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    About Nisha

    Nisha freelances as a food & product photographer/recipe developer & content creator in the F&B space.

    She loves everything about food and their stories! You can find her mostly in the kitchen trying to whip up something or reading culinary anecdotes.

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