If I had to pick my absolute favorite sweet treat I would pick Rava Paniyaram without hesitation. I love desserts of any kind but this one is to me the ultimate comfort food. Rava Paniyaram is a staple at all religious rituals at home. Deep fried goodness, straight out of the oil was to my idea of bliss.

The best part of the dish is its simplicity and I just cannot mess with it. It does not take more than 20 minutes (again ideal for my kind of cooking). I rarely make it but when I do, I call my grandmother (she is the expert and her recipe has translated to cooking competition wins).

I thumbed through the Toothukudi cook book and I saw the recipe there. Obviously this book has been a family favorite as it has all our family recipes. I whipped up a batch for Ayutha Pooja and wondered why I do not make it more often.

Rava Paniyaram ((adapted from Pavayarkana Palsuvai Malar) )

Makes around 12-15 fritters

1/2 cup maida

a teaspoon less than 1/2 cup rava

a teaspoon more than 1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup + water

Mix all the ingredients together. The batter should be between dosa and idlli batter. Pourable but not liquid and you will need to adjust water accordingly. I usually pull out my hand blender for mixing the batter as it is quick and gives it much needed air making the fritters puffy.

Heat oil in a kadai and use a hollow spoon to pour around 3 tablespoons of batter per fritter. Fry till golden. It is essential to maintain the heat level at medium as the fritter needs to be cooked through.

You can add elachi powder to the fritter but I do not enjoy it that way. The cookbook suggests using coconut milk instead of water to mix the batter. Again I like the taste better without coconut. Ripe bananas can also be mashed into the batter.

Rava paniyaram straight off the stove in the few seconds before they were gobbled

This post is for the CC Challenge of the month

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