KUMBILAPPAM

KUMBILAPPAM

Kumbilappam aka Chakka Kumbulappam, Chakka Appam, Vazhanayappam,  Theraliyappam is an authentic snack food of kerala,  Its prepared by cooking jackfruit bulb with rice flour, grated coconut and jaggery. This mixture is then wrapped and steamed in fresh green Edanailla/Bay Leaves/ Vazhanayilas shaped into cones (Kumbils). These leaves have a special fragrance which when mixed with the jackfruit will definitely stimulate your taste buds

                          

 

                                                                       KUMBILAPPAM WITH KATTANCHAYA                                                      

I have always loved how close to nature Kerala cuisine is – in cooking methods and in ingredients. Despite modern cooking practices, many households in Kerala still use age-old methods because the food simply tastes better that way. One of these methods is the use of different kinds of leaves as holding pans for steaming or grilling different foods.

Kumbilappam is made with rice flour, Kerala’s king of fruits – the jackfruit – coconut and jaggery steamed in leaves on the stove or brick oven. A very common snack among people from Kottayam, which is where I am from, we use vazhana or therali leaves to makes these mini-cakes.  The therali plant is a relative of the much-loved cinnamon; its leaves fragrant enough to have you drooling as soon as the pot opens. The batter alone baked or steamed would never taste as good without the leaves; the fragrance getting infused into these cakes and balancing the sweetness.