A Yummy Snack Option Or An Easy Breakfast/Dinner
Paddus or Kuzhi Paniyarams are little balls made from Dosa batter. This is a very popular snack of my husband and one of the few vegetarian dishes that he demands that I make often. Over the years, I have experimented and added a few ingredients to bring about a variety in the snack, to keep it interesting each time.
They are versatile and can be made just with mustard seasoning or like in the recipe below, many ingredients can be added. They go well with many accompaniments like sambar, pickle, coconut chutney, tomato chutney, or my favorite – the onion chutney whose recipe I had shared earlier. Some like it with tomato ketchup too – but a true blue South Indian would never recommend it J
Let us quickly jump to the recipe then!
Image Courtesy : Cast Iron Kuzhi Paniyaram Pan From Green Heirloom. Click Here To Buy.
Things You Need
Kuzhi Paniyaram pan (This is a special pan with kuzhi or pits into which the batter is poured. It will be easily available in the local markets in South India. You can also order it through Amazon here).
Dosa Batter. I have used the store-bought ID Idly/Dosa batter.
Salt. As Per Your Requirement.
Oil. For greasing the pan and for seasoning. I have used Sunflower Oil.
Mustard Seeds.
Asafoetida (Hing).
Green Chillies. As per your spice intake.
Optional Ingredients (I use all or few of these in any combination as available in my kitchen J )
- Onions
- Yellow, Green & Red Bell Peppers
- Baby Corn
- Sweet Corn
- Carrot
- Red Chilli Flakes
- Turmeric
- Curry Leaves
- Coriander Leaves
Method
Pour the Dosa batter into a vessel with a big mouth. Add a bit of water, add salt according to your taste buds and stir well to get a pourable consistency similar to the batter used while making Dosa.
Finely chop the optional ingredients like onions, yellow, green & red bell peppers, baby corn, curry leaves and coriander leaves.
Grate the carrot.
Chop the green chillies. Don’t chop them too finely if you don’t want to be surprised by a sudden burn of spice when biting into the Paniyarams J
In a shallow pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil.
Add in the mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter.
Now add in the onions and gently fry them till they are translucent.
Add in a pinch of asafoetida, green chillies as per your taste, and the curry leaves. Fry for 30 seconds.
Add in the finely chopped onions, bell peppers, and baby corn.
To this add the sweet corn, grated carrot, red chilli flakes, and a pinch of turmeric.
Fry everything well for 1 minute, making sure that you mix them well.
Add all of the ingredients into the vessel with the batter. Now add in the coriander leaves and mix well.
Heat up the Kuzhi Paniyaram pan for a minute. Test its readiness by sprinkling some water on the pan. When the water hisses and evaporates, it means the pan is ready.
Lightly grease the pits or Kuzhi as it is called in Tamil
Start pouring the batter into the pits. You can put a few drops of oil around the batter in the pits. This additional oil is optional if the pan is a non-stick one.
Cook it on a medium flame for 3-4 minutes. You can cook it open or also cover it with a lid. Most pans don’t come with a lid but you can use the lid of any pan that is of a similar size. The Paniyarams will be curved on one side (pit) and flat on the other (top).
After 3-4 minutes, you can see that the batter has changed color slightly. Insert a fork into a Paniyaram to test if is done – it should come out clean.
Using a spoon and fork, flip the Paniyarams so that the flat side is now the pit. (The curved side will already be done by now and will be brown). Cook it for 1 minute.
Scoop out the Paniyarams from the pan with the help of a spoon/fork.
3-4 Paniyarams will be equal to one Dosa, depending on the size of the pit of your pan. However, because of the additional ingredients, they can become quite heavy and 7-10 paniyarams will suffice for an adult for breakfast or dinner.
Serve hot with the chutney of your choice and/or sambar
For the recipe of the Onion Chutney which is my favorite, click here.
Do try this recipe and let me know how you liked it!
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with RRE Studios and ShowCase Events.
Appey is one of my favourite breakfast. This one is new that we can make it with idly bater. I will try to make with these ingredients.
Will try this one soon!
Kuzhi Paniyaram is such a versatile and filling dish. Going to try out your recipe the next time I make it.
I already know that your puddyus are very yummy n i love them😋. I love the onion chutney too. Thank you for sharing the link here… it becomes much easier. I will make it once I buy the dish😀
Coincidentally my husband wanted to make them this morning but we ran out of semolina… That’s what we use. I liked that you cooked the raw veggies before adding them. We usually don’t. Will try this recipe today.
I have tried these plain, but definitely I’d like to try ur combos on this
Will surely try it. Would love the change from the routine.
Lip smacking and yummy recipe. I love paniyaram and I am trying out your recipe next.
Paddus are a regular at our home. I love how versatile they are. We usually make it with semolina, will try your recipe next time. Thanks for sharing it.
This is one of our favorite tiffin items. I also make it with aloo stuffing. Thanks for sharing
This looks delish- def gonna ask my dad to try making it- can imagine having it with some spicy mango pickle
It is always nice to see a recipe post from you. I loved your onion chutney. We make appes a lot both for breakfast and dinner. I will surely try out your recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
I make this recipe often and it is one of my favourites! Like your, I change the ingredients to keep it interesting. This is light and perfect for breakfast!
Paniyaram are our all time favorite food. They are quick to make and so yummy. I do add veggies but will add more of it to make it more healthy.
I love these. We call them Guntapunugullu in Andhra. Actually, I had them for breakfast this morning. One day I make dosa with the batter and the next day these paddus as you call them
This has to be one of the cutest dishes I’ve seen. Tiny little pillows from heaven. Looking forward to trying it sometime!
I love appe so much…my south Indian friends keep sending me. I didn’t know that with dosa batter too we can prepare appe. Thank you so much for sharing this, I’ll try soon.
Your combination looks so good. I can try using ur combos next time.
Paadu is my daughter’s favorite. I never tried making it. Next time I will make this with dosa batter.
I so love these. We call them punugulu in telugu. They are so tasty, my mom makes it.
I will surely try out this recipe. It looks so tasty and fulfilling.
This is my Mom’s favourite Dish
I am a Kannadiga Partially ( A Bihari lived in Karnataka for 22years till I got married) and love paddus, this our favourite snacks so we prepare once a week at least.