How to prepare Pesaha appam and Pesaha pal

A Maundy Thursday specialty, the Pesaha appam is made at homes to commemorate Jesus Christ's last supper with his apostles. This is usually relished with Pesaha pal (coconut milk syrup).

Ingredients
For making Pesaha appam

1 cup rice flour
½ cup urad dal
1 cup grated coconut
4 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
¼ tsp cumin seeds
Salt, as required

For Pesaha pal (Coconut milk syrup)

3 cup coconut milk
1-1 ½ cup melted jaggery
¼ cup rice flour
½ tsp each dried ginger, cumin seeds and cardamom powder

Preparation
Preparation of appam

Soak urad dal in water for about 2 hours
Grind the dal into a fine paste
Transfer the ground dal and rice flour onto a bigger pan
Grind coconut, shallots, garlic and cumin seeds into a coarse paste
Mix well, adding salt as required
The batter should have the consistency as that of the idli batter
If needed, add coconut milk to thin the batter down
Leave the batter for 2 hours
Do not allow the batter to ferment
Pour the batter into a greased pan and using palm leaf, make a Cross in the middle of the batter
Steam it for about 15 minutes in an idli pan or pressure cooker
Allow it to cool down and serve with pal or syrup

Preparation of Pesaha pal (Coconut milk syrup)

In a pan, lightly boil coconut milk and melted jaggery
Mix the rice flour with some water to form a smooth paste
Add the rice flour paste to the coconut milk to thicken the syrup
Turn off the gas and sprinkle the spices on top
Allow it to cool down
Serve with Pesaha appam

(The author is a food blogger who blogs at subyskitchen.com)