Kinnathappam

Kinnathappam is a sweet from the Malabar region of Kerala. A rice and coconut batter is poured into a plate and steamed. Once it has set in the shallow plate, it is left to cool, and the soft cake is cut into pieces.

Poured into a Plate and Steamed

In one example, boiling water is added to rice flour and mixed in. After the mixture has cooled, coconut milk, sugar and cardamom are added. The batter is poured into an oiled plate with a rim, sprinkled with cumin, and steamed. Once it has cooled, it is cut and served with tea.

The starch in the rice flour sets in the heat of the steam, and the fat in the coconut milk adds richness to the texture and aroma. When the batter is poured thinly into the plate, the heat passes through it easily and the cut edges come out smooth. Some households add egg, and some examples use jaggery instead of sugar, so the color and flavor vary.

A Home Method for Ramadan: Soaking and Grinding the Rice

In Bini Basheer’s household, this sweet is essential at the table after sunset during Ramadan. In that method, soaked and ground rice is mixed with coconut milk and egg and strained through a cloth. Cumin is then added, along with cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee. The mixture is steamed in a metal plate, cooled, and cut into any shape. Both the rice preparation and the garnishes differ from the method that starts with rice flour.

Different Versions Under the Same Name

“Kinnam” is a word meaning plate. The sweet is also popular among the Mappila, the Muslims of Malabar, and some versions are flavored with cardamom or rose water. It is also served at occasions such as weddings. A feature on home cooking in Kannur includes a dark-colored sweet with the same name. For that version, rice flour, jaggery and coconut milk are stirred in a pot for a long time, legumes are added, and the mixture is spread on a plate. It is cooked differently and turns out differently from the steamed and set example above. Vattayappam also uses rice and coconut, but some versions are made by steaming a fermented batter, so it rises differently.

In the food memories of the Jews of Cochin, a steamed egg-white sweet is also called kinnathappam. According to accounts collected through interviews, it is paired with an egg-yolk sweet made by pouring the yolk in thin streams. Its ingredients are different from those of the rice and coconut examples above. Sweets with the same name are not necessarily made from the same ingredients.

Glossary