South Indian Paniyaram
Three kinds of paniyaram from one bowl of idli dosa batter, golden outside and soft in the middle.
Ingredients
Tap an ingredient to check it off as you prep.
Cooking steps
Grate the carrots to yield about 2 cups, then finely chop the spinach, green chillies, pearl onions, and coriander leaves.
Heat a little oil in a pan over medium heat, add the grated carrots, and sauté until they turn soft. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
In the same way, heat a little oil in the pan over medium heat, add the chopped spinach, and sauté until it wilts completely. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
Once the carrots have cooled, transfer them to a mixer grinder along with 1 cup of the dosa batter and a pinch of salt. Blend to a smooth batter and set aside.
Transfer the cooled spinach to the mixer grinder along with another 1 cup of the dosa batter and a pinch of salt. Blend to a smooth batter and keep both batters aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add the curry leaves, chopped green chillies, and chopped pearl onions, and sauté until the onions soften and turn lightly golden.
Turn off the heat and divide this masala equally among the three batters, plain dosa batter, carrot batter, and spinach batter. Add the coriander leaves and check the salt in each batter, adjusting to taste.
Add a little oil into each cavity of a paniyaram pan and spoon the batters in. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat until the tops are set.
Once the tops are cooked through, open the lid, flip each paniyaram, and cook on the other side until golden and lightly crisp.
Transfer the paniyarams to a serving bowl.
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Secrets to soft, golden paniyaram
- Cool the sauteed carrot and the spinach fully before they go anywhere near the grinder. Warm vegetables loosen the batter, and loose batter slumps in the cavity instead of doming.
- Wait for the mustard seeds to properly crackle before the curry leaves, chilies and pearl onions go in. Curry leaves dropped into quiet oil taste of almost nothing.
- Taste the salt in all three batters separately. A pinch went into the carrot and the spinach ones while they blended, so the plain batter is always the one that lands short.
- A little oil in each cavity, lid on, medium heat, then leave them alone. Open early and the wet tops tear on the flip. Nothing gets deep fried in this recipe, which is exactly why it can be a Tuesday snack.
- One batter, not three: Keep all 2 cups plain, stir the whole mustard and pearl onion masala through it, and make a straight batch of classic paniyaram. You lose the color on the plate and save yourself two rounds at the grinder.
- Yesterday's sour batter: Idli dosa batter that has turned tangy at the back of the fridge is not a problem here, it is the good stuff. The extra ferment gives a lighter, airier paniyaram than a fresh batter will.
- One vegetable, both cups: Carrot across both cups, or spinach across both, depending on what is actually in the fridge. Carrot goes sweeter and browns more; spinach stays softer and greener.
- Kids will eat these cold, straight from the box. That is not a compromise, it is why they hold up as an after-school snack and not just a tiffin filler.
- Reheat them back in the paniyaram pan, not the microwave. The shell crisps up again. A microwave leaves them chewy.
- Leftover masala-stirred batter will be more sour tomorrow, and that is fine. Give it a stir and make the next batch. It will rise a little lighter than today's did.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these deep fried?
No, and that is the whole point of them. They cook in a paniyaram pan with just a little oil in each cavity, covered with a lid, until the tops set and the outsides turn golden. You get the crisp edge and the soft center without a pan of oil to deal with afterwards.
Can I use fresh batter, or does it need to be fermented and sour?
Fermented idli dosa batter is what this recipe is built on, and slightly sour batter is genuinely good here. The mustard, curry leaf and pearl onion masala rounds that tang right out. So if your batter has been in the fridge a few days, that is a reason to make paniyaram, not a reason to skip it.
How thick should the batter be?
Regular idli dosa batter consistency is what you want, thick enough to spoon rather than pour. The carrot and spinach batters get blended smooth in the grinder, so they come out even and easy to spoon into the cavities. If a batter feels stiff, it will sit heavy in the pan.
My paniyaram keep sticking to the pan. What am I doing wrong?
Two things usually. Put a little oil into each cavity before the batter goes in, every single time, not just the first round. And do not flip too early: keep the lid on over medium heat until the tops are set, and they will release much more willingly.
Do I really need a paniyaram pan?
Yes, and I will be honest with you: this is the one thing you cannot work around. The rounded cavities are what give paniyaram its shape and that soft steamed middle. It is an inexpensive pan, sometimes sold as an appe pan, and once it is in your kitchen you will reach for it more than you expect.
