Kurisappam or Pesaha Appam #coronatime

This is being posted really late but I don't want to wait another year when I may or may not get a chance to make it again. Easter came and went rather quietly this year but I am grateful to have had the chance, time and mindset to watch all the masses and observe some dear customs like making this 'appam' for the first time. I really liked the services streamed from SS Peter & Paul Church Portaloise Ireland. Maybe because they were a web presence before Covid19 the service was catered to online viewers with clarity of sound and a prayerful ambience. I did find Pope's extraordinary blessing Urbi  Et Orbi quite moving too.

Kids were quite surprised when I talked about this tradition since they never had a chance to see it before. To be honest, as a kid this tradition felt more like part of a religious ritual that took place at home rather than a food event. That happened on the actual Easter day with crisp and soft flat appams and my mom's special chicken curry. This was more of a solemn occasion when my grandfather would cut the appam with the cross (kurisu) after prayers and distribute it to everyone around the table. A small piece of turmeric which we called the 'treasure' was hidden in the appam at the time of cooking and whoever found it in their slice was considered to have received a lot of luck for the coming year. I didn't do that this year though. The focus was just on making the 'appam' at least this once. Hoping for a chance next year to make this again.

The meal with this 'appam' is to commemorate Christ's last supper and the 'appam' represents the unleavened passover bread. There was a drink called 'paal' or milk which was made out of coconut milk to represent wine which I didn't do this time. Memories of my sister and me came calling. We started off the day by singing the 'puthen pana' about the 'unleavened bread a,k,a puliyathappam' which then was picked up next morning on Good Friday about Mother Mary's sorrow on her son's fate. This was almost continuous during the day with others joining in as needed. Along with the 'kurisappam' which is steamed separately, there were appams of the same genre steamed in banana leaves for general consumption.

My oldest sister had sent a recipe that was most similar to what we had at home and I also referred an old cookbook as well as many food vlogs out there. It's been so long that I am not sure if I really got the authentic taste but it came out better than expected. Planning to try this recipe from Mia's kitchen next year since that batter texture looks more familiar.

In The Mix
roasted rice powder - 1 cup
urad dal - 1/4 cup (fried for 2-3 min and soaked for 2 hours)
grated coconut - 1 cup
shallots - 2
garlic - 1 cloves
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
water - as needed for grinding

How To Do

Add water to rice powder and combine well together. Grind urad dal and add to the rice mix. Grind coconut, shallots, cumin and garlic and add to the prepared mix. Try to add as little water as possible. This is where I may have gone wrong a bit since the consistency was not as familiar. It should be coarse and thick. Check salt as needed. Set aside for 30 minutes. Do not let it rise because after all, this is unleavened bread.

Pour batter into a greased steel pan/plate with straight sides. I used olive oil to grease but may use coconut oil next time. Place a cross on top of the batter using two strips of the palm leaf from palm Sunday.

Boil water in a larger pan with a steamer insert at the bottom. Idli steamer is good if the pan can fit inside. Once the water starts boiling, place the pan with batter into it, cover and steam for about 15-20 minutes. Appam is done once a fork or toothpick comes out clean.

I had made some 'kozhukkatta' too to make up for not doing that on palm Sunday the previous weekend as demanded by tradition.