Kallidaikurchi on the bank of the Thamirabarani River in Tirunelveli district is renowned for its traditional food and snacks like appalam, murukku, thengoyal and seedai, vadam and vathal and festive sweets. Almost all the delicious items prepared here are done by hand and are hugely popular within the state and country.
One of the most famous accompaniments made here is arisi appalam (rice appalam). Normally, Salem rice is soaked along with raw rice and sago for a few hours and ground to a smooth paste. Some vendors prefer to use rice flour and sago flour procured from the mills.
Salt is added and the batter is allowed to rest overnight. A paste of green chillies, a spoonful of white sesame and asafoetida are added to this and mixed well. The consistency of this batter is very important as it needs to be poured on thin plates and steamed for a few minutes.
The plates are dipped in a bowl of cold water and the appalams are carefully removed and placed on sheets for drying. It is best to dry the appalams for at least a couple of days in the sun before deep – frying.
The batter can also be poured on banana leaves, steamed, dried and roasted over a kummatti aduppu. The crispy appalams are best enjoyed with hot rasam rice. Some people add cumin seeds or carom seeds and lemon juice to the batter as well.
Varieties available are onion appalam, veppampoo appalam and koozh appalam among others.
Written by Lakshmi Subramanian
sahasa.in 
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