Banana Oats Appe

Have you ever bought a cooking equipment and been petrified to use it because you’re new to it? That is precisely what happened to me coz I’ve had the appe pan for over five years and I’ve been petrified to use it… until a couple of weeks ago when I saw a post on Instagram, by Monalisa Mehotra. She’d made Banana Oats Appe and they looked so stunning, I just had to make them. Monalisa, heartfelt thanks for the recipe. 😊 Also, your recipe helped me get over my ‘appe pan fear’ 🙈 hence, truly, THANK YOU! ❤️

While the original recipe idea is Monalisa’s, I’ve added tiny touches and specific instructions to ensure the recipe does not go wrong. I never post a recipe unless I perfect it and I will always pen a detailed recipe to ensure it works just as beautifully in your kitchen as it does in mine. With the tiny changes I incorporated, I’ve now made this recipe thrice and I promise you, it’s perfect! I am writing the recipe exactly (proportions, extra ingredients, timings, et al) as made by me. Follow the recipe to a T and you shall have a bowlful of delicious Appe(s). I would say, these are very similar to banana fritters, just sans the excess oil as fritters are usually deep fried. Makes for a perfect evening, tea-time snack. 😊

Ingredients:

½ cup oats flour
1 tablespoon rice flour
2 over-ripe bananas
2½ tablespoon jaggery powder or grated jaggery
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
A pinch of cinnamon
A good of pinch salt
½ cup milk (room temperature)
½ teaspoon baking powder
Oil for the Appe pan

Method:

1. In a pan or a wok, stirring constantly, roast the oats flour on extremely low heat until a lovely aroma reaches your olfactory senses. Remove into a bowl and keep aside.
   
   
   
   
   
2. In the same pan/wok, stirring all the time, roast the rice flour on the lowest flame possible. When well roasted, remove the rice flour into the same bowl in which you have emptied the roasted oats flour. (The same rule of patience applies to this flour too. It will get done way fast, though, as the quantity is very little.) 
   
   
   
   
   
3. In the same pan/wok, now add the desiccated coconut and on very low flame, stirring all the time, roast it until the coconut gets a tad crisp. The desiccated coconut may turn one shade darker, which is quite alright. When roasted, empty the contents into a bowl, keep aside and allow to cool a bit.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add cinnamon powder and salt to the roasted flours.
   
   
   
   
5. Using your fingertips, crush the roasted desiccated coconut as finely as possible. 
6. Add the crushed coconut to the dry flour mix.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Peel and mash the bananas as smoothly as possible. 
   
8. Add 1½ tablespoon jaggery powder to the mashed bananas and mix it well. It will melt quite fast as it’s in powder (or grated) form.
9. Add the banana-jaggery mixture to the dry roasted flours and give it a mix. 
   
   
   
   
10. Add the milk and mix to form a smooth batter. Taste the batter and add the remain 1 tablespoon jaggery powder if you prefer a sweeter batter (I did). Mix the batter until the jaggery is well blended into the batter.
    
    
    
    
11. Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Just a minute before making the Appe, sprinkle baking powder and give it a GENTLE mix.
    
    
    
    
    
13. Heat an Appe pan. Into each indentation add half teaspoon of oil and when the oil is hot, lower the flame. 
    
    
    
    
    
14. Depending on the size of the appe indentations, spoon batter into each one. Cover and on LOW HEAT cook the appe for 2 minutes (yes, i marked time) on one side. 
    
    
    
    
    
15. After the 2-minute mark, flip each appe to cook the other side. Use a teaspoon or a fork to flip the appe. 
16. After flipping the appe, add a few extra drops of oil into each indentation if you so wish (I did). Cover and cook the other side, on LOW HEAT for 2 minutes.
17. Remove the appe into a bowl. Continue making appe until all the batter is used up. 
    
    
    

Chef Notes:

1. I used the Bagrry’s brand of oats flour. Pick up any brand available in your vicinity.
2. When roasting the oats flour and the rice flour I urge you NOT to be in a hurry. Roast both the flours very patiently, on low flame. The flours are to be well roasted to ensure the appe do not taste raw. A beautiful ‘roast aroma’ will reach your olfactory senses when the flour is well roasted. 
3. Preferably, do not allow the flours to change colour but… don’t fret too much if they go one teeny-tiny shade darker. Teeny-tiny, truly does mean just that. Do NOT allow them to go dark. Also, remember, the rice flour will roast faster as the quantity is small.
4. Ideally, mash the bananas with a fork, in a plate instead of a bowl for a smooth mash. I say this because I’ve seen people (in videos) struggling to mash them in a bowl. (Just a question of common sense, sometimes… not very common *evil grin*)
5. Please use over-ripe bananas. Just ripened ones or slightly raw ones will not lend the desired soft texture (within) or the sweetness.
6. The desiccated coconut crisps up a wee bit hence, once cool, crush it with your fingers. There is no right, or wrong, size here so crush them as much as possible and continue with the recipe.
7. I used 2½ tablespoons jaggery powder. You may add jaggery powder a little at a time and achieve the sweetness as desired by you. The quantity of jaggery powder will also depend on how sweet the over-ripe bananas are. 
8. This quantity of batter yields 18 regular size appe. Please don’t ask me to measure the indentations of the appe pan. *heavy sigh*
9. Ideally, keep serving the appe as soon as you bring them out of the appe pan. The only downside to doing this is, there may not be any left for you coz they get polished off in a frikkin’ jiffy. I should know, I barely get to eat three. Sigh!
10. Add half teaspoon oil into each indentation to ensure the appe cooks well. Yes, these are healthy appe but if you are too stingy with oil, you will be left holding an appe that tastes dry. By the way, how do I know?? I merely brushed the appe indentations with oil the first time I made these babies. They popped out quite dry. Now, you don’t want that, do ya? I think not! 😝 Posting a pic of the 'less-oil' version. If you don't mind this texture, then you may merely brush the pan with oil.
    
    
    
    
    
11. Some GK… The Appe pan is also known as Paniyaram pan and the Dutch call it an Aebleskiver pan. 
12. I recommend you remember the direction in which you fill the appe pan and begin flipping the appe in the same direction. This is to ensure the appe are evenly cooked. 
13. As mentioned at the onset, the original recipe belongs Monalisa Mehrotra. This version of the recipe and the photographs, though, belong to my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
    
    Some more photographs:

Rice Flour

Desiccated Coconut

Milk

The Less-Oil Version