Thinai Sweet Paniyaram | Foxtail Millet Sweet Paniyaram

Inippu Paniyaram or Sweet Paniyaram also called as Sweet Appam, is one of my boys favorite snack and festival food. Anytime, I make the sweet appam, I have to make quite a bit as it is never enough for them. That is when I thought about experimenting with whole grains to make this appam and came up with the idea to make Thinai Sweet Paniyaram | Foxtail Millet Sweet Paniyaram.

My mother always soaked raw rice and made appam. I always took the shortcut and used rice flour and wheat flour to make the sweet appam. This is not different from that, except we use soaked and ground thinai / foxtail millet along with the rice flour and wheat flour.

I followed the exact same recipe as to my regular sweet appam, except fermented this batter. When I read various recipes online, it said to ferment the batter for at least 2 to 3 hours to make it softer. I left the batter to rest for about 4 hours and then made the paniyarams. I also added banana and coconut to the batter. The boys saw no difference in the regular and this one and is definitely a great way to include whole grains in the diet.

I bought the Bob’s Red Mill Millet. It does not specify what kind of millet it is and I recognized it based on the appearance. This BM, I have been using quite a bit of new grains like Farro, Barley flour and amaranth flour. Foxtail millet is the 4th new whole grain that I am trying out.

My Other Posts in the A – Z Explore the Flavors Series

A for Akki Roti

B for Baghrir with Orange Butter Sauce

C for Chickpeas Shawarma

D for Double Ka Meetha

E for Esquites

F for Farro Salad

G for Gur Papdi

H for Hayagreeva Maddi

I for Idli

J for Jau Ki Papdi

K for Karthigai Pori

L for Lemon Chia Seeds Muffin

M for Mysore Pak

N for Narali Bhath

O for Oatmeal Payasam

P for Pav Bhaji

Q for Quinoa Brown Rice Adai

R for Rajgira Aloo Poori

S for Samosa

Preparation time – 10 minutes plus 2 hours of soaking time and 3 – 4 hours resting time
Cooking time – about 5 minutes per batch
Difficulty level – Easy
Recipe adapted from – Rak’s Kitchen

Ingredients to make Thinai Sweet Paniyaram | Foxtail Millet Sweet Paniyaram – makes around 24

• Thinai / Foxtail millet – 1 cup
• Rice flour – 1/4 cup
• Wheat flour – 1/4 cup
• Coconut – 1/2 cup (grated)
• Jaggery – 1 cup
• Banana – 1 large (mashed)
• Ghee and oil – 3 to 4 TBSP
• Salt – 1/4 tsp
• Baking soda – 1/2 tsp

Procedure to make Thinai Sweet Paniyaram | Foxtail Millet Sweet Paniyaram –

• Wash the thinai / foxtail millet and soak it in water for at least 2 hours.
• Drain the water and place the millet in the blender. Add just enough water to grind it into a smooth paste.
• Add the powdered jaggery, rice flour and wheat flour in the blender as well and grind it to a smooth batter.
• Remove the batter to a bowl and add the coconut, cardamom powder, salt and the mashed banana. Mix well and let it sit for 3 to 4 hours.
• I added the jaggery directly to the blender, but if your jaggery has impurities, then boil it in little water and strain the jaggery syrup and use it to make the batter.
• Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding little water. The batter should be thick and pouring consistency.
• Once the batter has fermented, mix it well and add the baking soda. Mix it once again.

• In the meantime, heat the paniyaram pan and grease each mould with little oil/ghee. I use a combination of both ghee and oil.
• Pour the batter into each hole of the paniyaram pan and cook it in low to medium flame until it cooks on one side. Flip it to the other side and cook on that side as well. I cover the pan when cooking to make sure that the inside of the paniyaram cooks well.

• Remove the paniyaram and serve warm.
• The paniyaram could be heated in the microwave for few seconds when serving at a later time.

4.75 from 8 votes

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Thinai Sweet Paniyaram | Foxtail Millet Sweet Paniyaram

Course Dessert, Festival Recipes, Snack

Cuisine Indian, South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Soaking + Resting time 6 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 24 paniyaram

Ingredients

• Thinai / Foxtail millet - 1 cup
• Rice flour - 1/4 cup
• Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
• Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
• Jaggery - 1 cup
• Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
• Banana - 1 large mashed
• Ghee and oil - 3 to 4 TBSP
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Instructions

1. Wash the thinai / foxtail millet and soak it in water for at least 2 hours.
2. Drain the water and place the millet in the blender. Add just enough water to grind it into a smooth paste.
3. Add the powdered jaggery, rice flour and wheat flour in the blender as well and grind it to a smooth batter.
4. Remove the batter to a bowl and add the coconut, cardamom powder, salt and the mashed banana. Mix well and let it sit for 3 to 4 hours.
5. I added the jaggery directly to the blender, but if your jaggery has impurities, then boil it in little water and strain the jaggery syrup and use it to make the batter.
6. Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding little water. The batter should be thick and pouring consistency.
7. Once the batter has fermented, mix it well and add the baking soda. Mix it once again.
8. In the meantime, heat the paniyaram pan and grease each mould with little oil/ghee. I use a combination of both ghee and oil.
9. Pour the batter into each hole of the paniyaram pan and cook it in low to medium flame until it cooks on one side. Flip it to the other side and cook on that side as well. I cover the pan when cooking to make sure that the inside of the paniyaram cooks well.
10. Remove the paniyaram and serve warm.
11. The paniyaram could be heated in the microwave for few seconds when serving at a later time.