Pesaha appam, Maundy thursday
Kerala style Pesaha appamKattan Chaya/Facebook

Maundy Thursday is observed by Christians across the globe to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ that he had with his 12 disciples, also the day of institution of Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Ordination. Preparing special Maundy Bread is part of the tradition of Maundy Thursday, one of the important days in the Holy Week.

Also read: All you need to know about Maundy Thursday

Maundy Bread, known as Pesaha Appam or Indiaiyappam (Indriyappam) is prepared using rice flour along with a sweet drink made of jaggery and coconut milk. The appam will be broken by the head of the family, and will be shared with other members.

How to make Kerala style Pesaha Appam?

Rice flour - 1 cup
Black gram - 1/4 cup
Half Coconut - grated
Shallot - 5 nos
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Garlic cloves - 2 nos

  • Soak urad dal for six hours and grind into a smooth paste similar to idly batter
  • Grind coconut, garlic, shallots and cumin seeds with little water.
  • Take rice flour in a bowl and mix all the above ingredients with hand without forming lumps. Keep it for half an hour.
  • Transfer the batter to a steel plate greased with oil, and place the palm leaf received on Palm Sunday in a cross shape in the middle of the batter. Cover and steam it for 20 minutes (medium flame). Use a toothpick to check if the appam is cooked well.

How to make Pesaha paal

Jaggery - 250 grams
Water - 1.5 cup
Rice flour - 1 cup
Coconut milk (thick) - 1.5 cup
Coconut milk (thin) - 2 cups
Cardamom powder - 1.4 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1.4 teaspoon

  • Take water in a pan, add jaggery and stir it until it melts well. Keep it aside after filtering the syrup.
  • Mix rice flour, cardamom and cumin powder well in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoon of jaggery syrup to the mix and stir without forming lumps.
  • In another pan, boil coconut milk and add remaining jaggery syrup. Make sure you stir continuously. To it, add the rice flour mixture and keep stirring for some more time.

Another Pesaha Appam recipe

Soaked rice (pachari) - 1 glass
soaked urad dal - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Cumin seeds - 1 spoon
Grated coconut - 3 cups
Shallot - 10 nos
Salt

  • Grind the soaked rice and urad dal.
  • Grind garlic and cumin seeds.
  • Slim fry grated coconut and shallots.
  • Hand mix all the ingredients together and pour the batter to a pan and prepare appam in small flame (like chappathy).

Watch the videos of Pesaha appam and paal preparation here:

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