This appe recipe makes round, golden suji (rava) dumplings that are crisp outside and soft and spongy inside, cooked in an appe pan with only a few drops of oil in each cup. There is no grinding or fermenting: the rava rests for 15 minutes while you chop the vegetables, and three batches in a 7 cup pan take about 30 minutes more.
Appe go by many names: paniyaram in Tamil Nadu, paddu or guliyappa in Karnataka, and appe in Maharashtra and the North. The method below is the instant rava version for weekday mornings, and further down you will find how to turn leftover idli or dosa batter into kuzhi paniyaram, plus a sweet version for tea time.
55 minServes 3Vegetarian279 kcal
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Recipe card
Instant Rava Appe with Vegetables
Fluffy semolina and curd dumplings full of vegetables, cooked golden in an appe pan with very little oil.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Resting the rava batter
- 15 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Serves
- 3
Ingredients
Makes about 21 appe (3 batches in a 7 cavity pan)
Batter
- 1 cup fine sooji (rava)
- ½ cup dahi (plain curd)lightly whisked
- ½ cup waterplus 2 to 4 tbsp after resting
- saltabout 3/4 tsp
- ½ tsp fruit saltor 1/4 tsp baking soda
Vegetables
- 1 small onionvery finely chopped
- ¼ cup carrotgrated
- 2 tbsp capsicumvery finely chopped
- 2 tbsp sweet corn or green peasoptional
- 1 green chillifinely chopped
- ½ inch gingergrated
- 2 tbsp coriander leaveschopped
Quick tempering and cooking
- 1 tsp oil for tempering
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaveschopped
- 2 tsp oil for the appe pana few drops per cup
You will need
- Appe pan (paniyaram pan) with lid
- Wooden skewer or small spoon for turning
- Mixing bowl
Method
Soak the rava
In a bowl, mix the sooji, curd, water and salt into a thick batter. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. The rava drinks up the liquid and softens, which is what gives soft appe instead of gritty ones.
Make the tempering
Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop, then add the curry leaves for a few seconds. Pour this over the batter. It adds flavour without adding oil to the cooking.
Add vegetables and adjust
Stir in the onion, carrot, capsicum, corn, green chilli, ginger and coriander. The batter will have thickened, so add 2 to 4 tbsp water until it drops from the spoon in thick blobs, a little thicker than idli batter.
Heat the appe pan
Heat the appe pan on medium for 2 minutes. Put 2 or 3 drops of oil in each cup, or brush them with a silicone brush. The pan is ready when a drop of batter sizzles at once.
Add the fruit salt
Divide the batter if you are cooking in batches, and add fruit salt to one portion at a time. Sprinkle a third of the fruit salt over a third of the batter, add a teaspoon of water on top so it fizzes, and fold gently until the batter turns pale and airy. Fill the cups within a minute or two.
Fill the cups
Spoon the batter into each cup to about three quarters full, not to the brim. Cover with the lid and cook on medium low for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottoms are golden and the tops look set around the edges.
Turn and cook the other side
Push a skewer into the side of each appe and flip it over in the cup. Add a drop of oil only if the pan looks dry. Cook uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes until evenly golden. A skewer pushed into the centre should come out clean.
Repeat and serve
Lift the appe onto a plate and repeat with the rest of the batter. Serve hot with coconut chutney or green chutney.
Tips that make the difference
- Add fruit salt in portions, batch by batch. Batter left standing with fruit salt goes flat and the last batch turns hard.
- Chop vegetables very fine. Big pieces stop the appe from turning cleanly and make them break.
- Cook on medium low. High heat browns the outside while the centre stays raw.
- A cast iron appe pan needs seasoning and slightly more oil the first few times; a non-stick one needs only a brush of oil.
- If you have no curd, use 1 cup thin buttermilk in place of both the curd and the water.
Storing: Appe are best fresh, but they keep in an airtight box in the fridge for a day. Reheat them in the appe pan covered on low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or in an air fryer at 170 C for 4 minutes. Rava batter with vegetables but without fruit salt keeps in the fridge for a day.
Why this rava appe recipe turns out soft
Rava is made of hard little grains. If you cook them straight away they stay sandy, so the 15 minute rest in curd is the step that makes these appe tender. The curd also brings a gentle sourness that a fermented batter would have, so the fruit salt has some acid to react with and the dumplings puff evenly.
Covering the pan for the first side is the second secret. The trapped steam cooks the centre before the bottom has a chance to burn. The second side is cooked uncovered so the outside crisps up.
Cooking appe with very little oil
The shape of an appe pan is the reason these dumplings need so little fat. Each cup holds a small, deep portion of batter, so it cooks from the bottom, sides and steam all at once. That means a few drops of oil, rather than the cupful you would need for vadas or bondas.
- Use a silicone brush, or dip a folded piece of tissue in oil, and wipe each cup instead of pouring.
- Add oil before the first batch; for later batches the pan is often greasy enough.
- Do not flip too early. An appe that is not set will stick and you will be tempted to add more oil.
- A good non-stick appe pan needs the least oil. If you are buying one, choose one with a heavy base and a lid.
This whole recipe uses 3 teaspoons of oil for three servings. For other low oil ideas, see the healthy breakfast recipes collection.
Paniyaram from leftover idli or dosa batter
Kuzhi paniyaram is the best use for batter that is two or three days old and has turned a little too sour for soft idli. The sourness actually helps: the paniyaram puff without any fruit salt.
For about 20 paniyaram: take 2 cups fermented idli or dosa batter. In 1 tsp oil, splutter 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp urad dal, then add 1 chopped onion, 1 green chilli, a sprig of curry leaves and a small piece of grated ginger, and fry until the onion is soft. Mix this into the batter with 2 tbsp grated coconut and chopped coriander. Fill the greased appe pan, cover and cook on medium low for 3 minutes, flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes more.
This kara paniyaram (spicy version) is also how most homes make a paddu recipe in Kannada kitchens, where the dish is called paddu or guliyappa, and the paniyaram recipe in Tamil homes follows the same steps, often with small onions (shallots). If the batter is runny, stir in 2 tbsp rice flour or fine rava so the paniyaram hold their shape. The batter also makes good uttapam if you would rather use a tawa.
Sweet paniyaram and sweet appe
For a sweet paniyaram recipe, melt 1/3 cup grated jaggery in 3 tbsp water, strain it and cool. Stir it into 1 cup of plain fermented idli batter with 2 tbsp grated coconut, 1/4 tsp cardamom powder and a pinch of salt. Cook in a pan greased with ghee until deep golden, since jaggery browns faster than plain batter. A quick sweet appe can also be made from 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup rava, a mashed ripe banana, 1/4 cup jaggery melted in 1/4 cup water, and a little more water or milk to a thick dropping batter, rested 15 minutes. Stir a pinch of soda into it just before cooking. These are treats, so keep them to a few pieces.
More appe variations
- Moong dal appe: give 1 cup dhuli moong a 3 hour soak, then pulse it to a slightly grainy paste along with ginger and green chilli. Add vegetables and a pinch of soda, and cook as above. The same batter makes moong dal chilla.
- Mix dal appe: soak 1/4 cup each of chana dal, moong dal, urad dal and toor dal with 2 tbsp rice for 4 hours, grind coarse and add onion and coriander. In Maharashtra this is mix daliche appe.
- Oats appe: replace half the rava with powdered rolled oats and add 2 tbsp more curd.
- Upvasache appe: for fasting days, use soaked sabudana, boiled potato and crushed peanuts, seasoned with green chilli and rock salt, the same mix as in our sabudana khichdi but shaped in the appe pan.
Common appe problems
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Hard and dense | Rava not rested, or fruit salt added too early | Rest 15 minutes, add fruit salt just before filling |
| Raw in the centre | Heat too high, cups overfilled, no lid | Medium low heat, fill three quarters, cover the first side |
| Sticking to the pan | Pan not hot or flipped too soon | Preheat 2 minutes, wait until the edges look set |
| Flat, not round | Batter too thin | Add 1 tbsp rava and rest 5 minutes |
| Bitter or soapy taste | Too much soda or fruit salt | Use level spoons: 1/2 tsp fruit salt or 1/4 tsp soda for 1 cup rava, divided across the batches |
Appe recipe in Hindi and Marathi
In Hindi, the appe recipe is often written as suji ke appe (सूजी के अप्पे), and appe banane ki recipe or appe ki recipe means the same thing as the steps above: suji, dahi, sabziyan and a little oil. Whether the packet says sooji, suji or rava, it is the same grain, so any sooji appe recipe you come across works with fine rava. The appe recipe in Marathi is अप्पे, and a Marathi kitchen rava appe recipe usually adds a spoon of grated coconut to the batter. Serve with nariyal chutney (coconut chutney), tomato chutney or a bowl of sambar for a fuller meal.
Questions cooks ask
Can I make appe without an appe pan?
Not as round dumplings. You can pour the same batter onto a tawa as small thick pancakes, like mini uttapam, or steam it in greased idli moulds for a soft, oil free version.
Can I make appe without fruit salt or soda?
Yes, if the batter is sour enough. Leftover fermented idli or dosa batter needs nothing. For rava appe without soda, use slightly sour curd and rest the batter for 30 minutes; they will be a little denser.
Why are my appe hard?
Rava that was not rested long enough, a stiff batter, or fruit salt that was mixed in long before cooking. Rest the rava in curd, keep the batter at a thick dropping consistency, and add fruit salt batch by batch.
Are appe healthy?
They are cooked with only a few drops of oil per piece, which makes them much lighter than deep fried snacks like vada or bonda. With vegetables in the batter and curd or sambar on the side, they make a fair, filling breakfast. By our estimate, a serving of 7 appe carries 280 kcal and 9 g protein.
Are appe and paniyaram the same thing?
They are the same dish with regional names. Paniyaram usually means the version made with sour, fermented rice and urad batter, while appe in Maharashtra and the North is often the instant rava version.
Can I pack appe in a lunchbox?
Yes, they stay soft for a few hours. Pack them with a dry chutney or a small box of ketchup, and avoid wet chutney touching them. For another tiffin option, try vegetable upma.