Barley is very good for lowering bad cholesterol, it has lot of fiber, it helps reduce blood sugar level, good for weight loss etc. I always prepare paniyaram with lots of onion, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander leaves and asafoetida, which gives nice flavor and aroma to the paniyaram.

Ingredients:

Serves 4 to 5

For making batter:

• 1 cup – Barley
• 1 cup – Idli rice
• 1/2 cup – Whole black gram without skin / Ulunthu
• 2 tbsp – Flattened rice / poha / aval
• 1/8 tsp – Fenugreek seeds/ methi seeds / vendhayam
• Salt as needed
• Ice water for grinding

For making paniyaram:

• 1 no – Onion (chopped finely)
• 1 or 2 – Green chili (chopped finely) – Completely optional
• 1/4 inch – ginger (chopped finely)
• 1 tsp – Cumin seeds
• 4 nos – Curry leaves (chopped finely)
• 1 tbsp – Coriander leaves
• 1 pinch – Asafoetida
• Salt as needed
• Oil as needed for making paniyaram

Preparation method:

Making of batter:

1. Wash and soak barley, idly rice and whole black gram / ulunthu, poha along with fenugreek seeds for 6 hours or overnight.
2. Grind everything in a mixture grinder or wet grinder to a dosa batter consistency. Add enough salt and mix well, ferment this batter for upto 4 hrs or until well fermented.

Making of paniyaram:

1. Take a wide bowl with enough barley batter, add chopped onion, green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves, curry leaves, cumin seeds, asafoetida and required salt; Mix well. Now paniyaram mix is ready.
2. Heat paniyaram pan. Put 2 to 3 drops of oil in each hole; fill each hole with the batter and drizzle few drops of oil on the top. After 1 to 2 minutes, flip over to cook the other side. Once both sides turn golden brown, switch off the stove and serve hot with spicy chutney.

Notes:

• Barley batter takes very less time to ferment, so check in between whether is done or not. Otherwise batter will be over fermented.
• Since I used wet grinder for grinding, I soaked everything together for easy grinding.
• If you think batter is little thick for making paniyaram, then add little water and bring it to desired consistency.
• Green chillies are completely optional. I did not use it.