Baked Neyyappam (Banana Muffins with Cardamoms, Coconut, And Cashews)

Here is the recipe for Baked Neyyappam, a favorite of Amma's. This recipe is dedicated to my mother Jaya because she enjoyed the eggless banana muffins that I made for her. They reminded her of the 'Neyyappams' and she wondered if we could add all the traditional flavors - cardamoms, Indian Jaggery, and coconut. Thus was born the "baked neyyappams". We had fun experimenting and we often added cashews.

Traditional appams are cooked just like the Scandinavian abelskiver in a pan of the same name that looks just like the Indian "appa karai" or "paniyaram pan". Amma was amazed that the Scandinavians eat "appams" too :D.

Appams are made for celebrating life - from birth ceremonies of new infants to memorial ceremonies called Shraddham and everything in between. They are also another well-loved offering for festivals and auspicious occasions.

Amma loved that the baking process cuts down on preparation time and the amount of ghee used for frying - we could enjoy baked neyyappams more often without worrying about fats and cholesterol. I remember how our grandfather (Amma's father) would recite the old Malayalam proverb every time we had neyyappams -"neyyappam thinnal randundu karyam, vayarum nirakkam, meyyum minukkam" which translates as 'neyyappam accomplishes two things, filling the belly and shining the body", the body-shining part being done with the ghee left on your fingers after eating the said appam - Waste not, want not!

Although there is no substitute for the traditionally made neyyappam, these are pretty tasty :-)!

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Ghee + a little extra for the muffin tin
1/4 cup Cashews, finely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Coconut
1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat or Unbleached Flour (Atta or Maida)
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
7 Cardamom pods, seeds freshly ground
3 ripe Bananas, mashed
1 Tbsp fresh Lemon or Orange juice
1 cup Brown Sugar/Indian Jaggery, ground

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F while you are preparing the batter.

Heat the ghee in a small pan and cook the cashews until pale gold; add the coconut and cook stirring until pale gold. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Combine the flours, ground cardamom seeds, salt, baking powder, and soda in a bowl.

Mash the bananas well and stir in the lemon/orange juice. Stir in the sugar/jaggery and the coconut mixture.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the banana mixture until "just mixed" (do not overdo this part).

Put into a muffin tin well smeared with ghee and bake for about 20 minutes.

Test with a wooden skewer or a knife to see if the muffins are cooked; if the skewer comes out sticky, cook for a few more minutes until they are done.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for a few minutes before serving.

Remove from baking pan to cool completely on a rack before storing in an airtight container.