Wanderberry Tales

Vattayappam is a popular Kerala delicacy, which traditionally was made in households with left-over appam batter. However now, most of the bakeries in Kerala sell packaged Vattayappam. This can never beat the freshly prepared homemade ones.   Vattayappams are steamed soft rice cakes with a perfect blend of coconut and fermented by yeast to make it fluffy. This is definitely on my Easter Menu.You guy's better rethink yours:) Vattayapam usually has cashew nuts and raisins for richness along with a tinge of cardamom. My recipe has a whole lot of dates which gives it the sweetness and of course you may do away with the sugar that you add.  I picked this recipe from my mother-in-law :) Ingredients Dosa Rice/White Rice -1 cup Dates - 40 to 50 - you may reduce or increase as per your choice. Coconut - 3/4 cup grated Cardamom powder -1/4 tsp Boiled rice - 1/4 cup Cashew nuts and raisins -a handful Salt to taste Yeast -1tbsp Water -1 cup Method Soak t...

A small tea shop in front of our college campus was the favorite hangout place during our free hours in college at Brahmavar. This is where we have feasted on the Mangalore Buns as it is popularly called. Do not go by the name Buns! It is nowhere similar to the normal buns baked out of the oven. It is deep fried in oil and usually served as tea time snack along with chutney. It is sweet, hence can be eaten without a chutney also. That is precisely what I did roaming around with a piece in my hand and preparing for our trip to Al Ain Zoo. That is a long awaited trip and we finally did it this weekend Yay! Guess what we were lucky too! Got to see the majestic White Tiger and White Lion in all its glory and majesty. I had packed a few buns for our evening snack time which we gorged on after the visit to the Zoo. I hope you guys too try out this recipe, you could make it a tiffin box recipe for your kid too:) A simple way to use the overripe bananas which you do not feel like eatin...

How many of you knew that ela ada or ela appam is a popular Onam breakfast recipe? Well, I did not, until quite recently. For me, Onam was all about an elaborate afternoon Onam sadya. So why not have a breakfast dish as well to spice up the Onam celebration on the blog:) I have never made ela appam before and I do not remember it being my favorite when my mom made it for us in the evenings after school. It's been so many years now and I definitely wanted to make this. Banana leaf used to wrap the appam gives the ela appam a distinct flavor and aroma that will tickle your taste buds. I tried the ela appam infusing a little of banana as well. We enjoyed the final product! Ingredients Roasted Rice Flour - 2 cups Boiled Water - 1.5 cup Jaggery - 250 gms grated Coconut - 1 cup grated Banana - 1 ripened Banana leaf Salt to taste Method Mix the jaggery with coconut and keep aside. Boil water , add salt and the rice flour in parts, continuously folding it ...