Apple Pola - Slow cooked Apple Pudding ( Malabar delicacy)

Malabar or Moplahs in North Kerala are mostly non-vegetarians...Whether it is sweet or savoury snacks, they use more quantity of eggs..Foods play a vital role in malabar cuisine, whether it is marriage, party or large gathering..Varieties of snacks are served in iftar ( breaking fast ) too. There are many varieties of traditional malabar foods..How many of them know or make it at home?..Me too, I knew only few varieties of malabar foods..I will try my level best to include more malabar items, In Sha Allah..Some malabar post that I shared are taken from my mom, friends, in-laws, relatives and also from cookery book...Most of the malabar foods are either deep fried, steam cooked ( adas) and of course slow-cooked version too..Some of the slow cooked version are Pola ( slow cooked pudding), Kums ( slow cooked sponge cake) and chatti pathil ( slow cooked chappati / crepes layered meat filling )..Today, I am sharing a slow cooked version i.e pola..There are many types of  malabar pola like Carrot Pola, Apple Pola and Kayi Pola [fried cubed plantain ( nentrapazham- ripe kerala banana),mixed with eggs and nuts), which I'll share at my later post..Now, I am sharing a recipe of Apple pola..Texture of pola is soft and has steamed-pudding consistancy..Its easy to make, only cooking time takes too long..After making the pola, do refrigerate..It tastes delicious when chilled..Its great for kids who don't eat eggs and is good for adult who is a sweet lover like me..My hubby is a spicy food lover, he ate only small piece..But he likes the taste of this pola..Do try this and impress your family and guests :) :)

     Ingredients

• Large Red Apples - 2 1/2

• Large eggs - 3 no.s

• Sugar - 3 to 4 tbsp ( depends upon your taste)

• Milk powder - 4 heaped tbsp

• All purpose flour ( maida) - 3 heaped tbsp

• Chopped or crushed cashewnuts / almonds - 6 to 7 no.s

• Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp ( ground with skin)

• Baking soda - a pinch ( optional )

• Salt - 1/2 tsp

• Chopped dates - 6 to 7 no.s ( optional)

• Ghee ( Clarified Butter) - 1 tsp

    Method

• Peel the skin  and de-seed the apples and dice into cubes..

• In a blender, add eggs, diced apples, milk powder, all purpose flour,sugar and salt...Blend into thick paste without adding water..

• Add baking soda ( optional ) and cardamon powder and blend for one second..

• Add chopped dates ( optional ) and crushed nuts and mix well..

• Heat ghee in a small sauce pan, grease the ghee in bottom and all sides thoroughly..This is done, so its easier to de-mold ( flipping upside down on plate) pola.

• Add blended mixture into the sauce pan,close the lid and cook for medium heat for 5 mins..

• Take care not to get burnt at bottom, always use steel platter with holes or tawa and place sauce pan on top of it,to prevent the pola from getting burnt at bottom while slow cooking...

• Then reduce the flame to lowest and cook for 20 -25 mins till toothpick or fork insert in the centre comes out clean  or when the sides of the edges becomes brown as shown in the pic, it indicates pola is done....

• No need to brown on other side..Off the flame, place the plate on top of sauce pan and de-mold it..

• When it cools down, cut into squares and refrigerate..

• Serve chilled..It tastes better when chilled..

• Enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee.

      Notes

• It's better to make pola in a small sauce pan, so it will get cake shaped structure..If you don't have saucepan, make it in a small fry pan..

• It's better to place steel platter with holes or tawa at the bottom of sauce pan..It will prevent pola from getting burnt at bottom..If you don't have these, take care of the flame and cook it at a very low flame..

• Traditionally, pola contains more eggs, I reduced the quantity of eggs...You can increase or decrease the mentioned quantity of your requirement.

• Cooking time depends upon the quantity of ingredients and the type of the pan you used..

Sending this entry to my dear schoolmate blogger, Rafeeda, who blogs at  The Big Sweet Tooth, for the ongoing event for her blog, Ahlan Ramadan –The Healthy Way”