Kinnathappam – Jaggery Egg Pudding - Guest post from Rafeeda of The Big Sweet Tooth

Hello there.... today I'm introducing a super girl in the world of blogging and I'm lucky that I got her for my guest post series.... :-). It is Rafeeda of  "The Big Sweet Tooth" She bakes ..... she cooks.......and she blogs.... and the most important thing is that she is an expert in all these things.....and very simple and humble person..... For me, this is an exciting pleasant surprise from Rafee as "Kinnathappam" is one of my most favorite dessert. I'm really fond of her non veg recipes esp Mutton coconut milk gravy , Fried chicken biriyani and many more...., baking recipes like Baked apple almond pudding. Please do visit her space and try different varieties of food across the globe..... (right from Malabar to different countries )...! Over to you my dearest friend....... :-)

I was really happy when Remya approached me for a guest post. I must admit that she is one of the simplest characters I have come across in blogging. No frills attached, and I literally mean it. She is a person of few words, though I love that she is very frank with her comments on the blog. She comments on almost all my  blog posts and that too very generously. I must admit that because of this character, I have a little soft corner to this beautiful lady! By the way, before I move on, let me wish you a very happy 2ndbloggoversary!!! Hope to see you blogging with more and more delicacies in the future… 

Introducing myself, my name is Rafeeda and I blog at “The Big Sweet Tooth”. My blog is basically my trials and errors of my cooking experiments in my kitchen. I am a working mother of two lovely girls and cooking and baking is a stress buster in my otherwise busy life. My blog contains titbits of my personal experiences and learnings, apart from my recipes. Just like my blog name, I am a sweet addict and it is a tough battle for me trying to resist making and eating sweet stuff! That explains why the bookmarked from Remya’s blogs happen to be all sweet recipes, just like I had mentioned during her recent guest post at my space. 

I wanted to make something traditional for Remya and I sincerely appreciate her patience to wait for almost three months to decide what to make for her. In our area, “Kinnathappam” is usually an egg based pudding, though in majority of Kerala, this name is used for a cake like disc made of ground rice and other ingredients, made either sweet or savory. I searched left, right and center for a recipe but could not find it on the net. Kinnathappam is one main item that many of my uncles bring back from home after their vacation. It is also one of the “palahaaram” (delicacies) that are taken to a house, while visiting a soon-to-be bride or a new born baby. Since it involves a lot of eggs and jiggery, and unfortunately both are quite pricey back home, it is a rarity these days. When Azza was born and we had travelled back home when she was just 35 days, umma’s cousin had bought a huge Kinnathappam steamed with 20 eggs and God alone knows, how much jaggery! I remember umma giving her a lecture as to why she had to spend so much money to make this. Not minding the lecture, I made it a point to eat a major portion of it! Hehe…

Kinnathappam is nothing but a steamed egg pudding, which is sweetened with jaggery. Cardamom and nuts are all additions to it. It can be sweetened with sugar, but then it wouldn’t be different to any baked egg pudding! When you sink your teeth into a slice, the juice of the jaggery oozes out first and that what gives it its unique taste! I called umma for the recipe, and she explained to me after a brief discussion with mattamma (her umma!) and that’s what I thought I would give Remya on her little cozy space! 

Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, room temperature

A pinch cardamom

125 gm dark jaggery, grated

1 tbsp ghee

6-8 cashew nuts, split

10-15 raisins

Method:

Keep your steamer (idli cooker works best!) ready with water on the stove top. Let it be on slow flame for the water to start boiling. Keep a deep small pan for steaming. 

Heat ghee in a saucepan. Fry the cashewnuts and puff the raisins. Switch off and pour in the pan kept for the pudding. Spread the cashews and raisins. Use the ghee to grease all over the pan. 

In a bowl, break in all the eggs. Whisk well with a hand whisk. Add in the cardamom and jaggery and continue to whisk till the jaggery is all dissolved and melted into the egg. You don’t need to double the volume, just whisk till the jaggery is melted – a bit of hand work involved, but better, why? I will tell you in the notes! 

Pour this mixture immediately into the pan. Cover with aluminum foil, prick all over using a fork. Slowly put it into the steamer and close the lid. Steam for 30 to 40 minutes or till the pudding is set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Take out of the steamer and allow to cool completely on the kitchen top. You may keep it in the fridge once the pudding reaches room temperature. Cut into square pieces and serve! 

Notes:

Back home, they would beat eggs with a whisk like thing, which has a long handle and a flower looking base, and made with wood. Beating the eggs with it wouldn’t make fluffy so you would get a flat topped perfectly baked pudding. I made the mistake of beating it using my hand beater and therefore got an unlevelled top, which looked more like waves on the sea! That is why I thought it was better to whisk with a normal whisk and by hand. Both ways, there is no compromise in the taste! 

Thank you so much Remya for having me around at your place and I sincerely hope that you have liked my post. Wishing you all the very best in your journey…

Gratitude to you dear Rafee for being with me in my space.... I feel to eat this melt in mouth kinnathappams...... Hope you all enjoyed....  :-)