Chola Paniyaram / Sorghum Paniyaram

Paniyaram happens to be a Chettinad delicacy. But it has been prepared at my home since more than 5 generations as my grandma mentions. We used to have it for dinner or tiffin. It will be prepared once in a week with leftover idly batter. We make both sweet and spicy version. Paniyaram using Sirudhaniyangal (which literally means hard, coarse, small grains) is famous at our home. This chola paniyaram tops among all, since it gives a spongy texture when cooked and served hot.

I prepared this paniyaram using white cholam. You can also use red and black cholam for making this paniyaram. But, I have never tried it because of its lack of availability. Since this recipe doesn’t use rice, you can grab all the health benefits (fibre, protein, complex carbohydrates) of the sorghum. Now, off to the recipe.

Basic Information:

Soaking Time: 4 hours

Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes

Fermentation Time: 6-8 hours

Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes

Makes: 25 paniyarams

Ingredients:

White Cholam / Sorghum / Great Millet – 1 cup (see notes)

Urad dal – 2 tablespoons

Fenugreek Seeds – 1/2 tablespoon

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 teaspoons

Mustard seeds and urad dal – 1/2 teaspoon

Channa dal – 1 tablespoon

Curry leaves – 1 string, roughly torn

Green chillies – 3 nos, finely chopped

Asafoetida – a big pinch

Onion – 1 no, medium size

Method:

1) Wash Cholam,urad dal and fenugreek seeds well. Soak cholam,urad dal and fenugreek seeds separately.

2) After 4 hours, drain the water from cholam and urad dal completely. Dry them in a kitchen towel.

3) When the cholam is dry (there should not be any water ) but has little moist in it, make a powder using a mixie. You need about 5-10 minutes to make powder of 1 cup cholam.

4) When you get slightly smooth coarse powder, add fenugreek seeds and water required to make thick batter.

5) When the batter is in slightly coarse consistency, transfer the batter to a big bowl. Add salt and mix well. The batter should be between thick and thin consistency for perfect sponge paniyarams.

6) Allow this batter to ferment for 6-8 hours.

7) When the batter is fermented well, lightly beat it with ladle. (Do not do over beating)

8) Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, add mustard seeds and urad dal. Let it splutter. Add channa dal and asafoetida. Let the channa dal becomes golden brown.

9) Add chopped green chilli and curry leaves. Add onion and saute till the onion becomes soft and translucent.

10) Add this fried onion to the batter. Mix well.

11) Heat paniyaram pan. If it is a non-stick one, no need to use oil. Otherwise, pour 1/4 teaspoon of oil in each hole of the paniyaram pan.

12) Pour 2 tablespoons of batter to each hole of the paniyaram pan. It is enough to fill only 3/4th of its hole. Let it cook in medium flame.

13) Once the paniyarams are cooked in one side (about 2-3 minutes, also you can see steam coming out of it), flip to otherside using a wooden stick to cook other side.

14) When both the sides are cooked, transfer it to a plate.

15) Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar.

Notes:

1) The cholam which I used in this recipe is white coloured one. It is completely different from the the cholam (also known as Maize) which is in yellow colour.

2) I soaked cholam for 2 hours and fenugreek seeds for 4 hours for this recipe. You can also soak both for 4 hours.

3) Since I used cholam in small quantity, I used mixie to grind the batter. If you use large quantity, first make a powder using mixie and then transfer the powder to grinder to make batter.

Related Recipes

Kuzhi Paniyaram using Idly, Dosa Batter Chola Aval Pidi Kozhukattai / Flattened Rice Dumplings