Here’s another traditional Mappila dish that puts the Mappila sense of humour, creativity and sheer cookieness front and centre. A pancake, filled with sweet scrambled eggs is placed in a larger rice pancake, with more sweet scrambled egg. This parcel-within-a-parcel is assembled alongside other parcels-within-parcels, and soaked in sugar syrup. Eaten cold, it’s light and refreshing and while the name of the dish, Allahuaila, means ‘Only God Knows!’ — referring to the improvisational nature of the dish — us Mappilas definitely know that on a summer day, a cold allahuaila is a thing of joy.
Recipe: Allahuaila
(Recipe from The Family Table)
Ingredients
For the filling
4 eggs, beaten
6 tbsp sugar
25 g cashew nuts, chopped
25 g raisins
1 tbsp + 1 tbsp ghee
Fo the pancakes
1 cup four
1½ cups water
1 small egg, beaten
Pinch of salt
For the syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1 cups water
1 tsp rose water (or to taste)
To garnish (optional)
Slivered pistachios
Dried rose petals
Method
To make the filling
Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a kadai. Roast the cashew nuts until they turn light brown and set aside. Next, sauté the raisins for a minute and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of ghee followed by the sugar and eggs and stir continuously to scramble.
Add the roasted cashew and raisins to this and set aside.
To make the pancakes
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Heat a non-stick pan and pour enough batter to make a thin, 1/8th-inch pancake.
Transfer the pancake to a plate and add a small spoonful of filling. Fold the pancake over the filling to make a small square packet.
Make another pancake and transfer to a plate.
Sprinkle a scant spoonful of the filling on top and place the first packet, folded side down, on top of the second pancake.
Fold the second pancake to form a packet that encloses the first.
Repeat this process with the remaining pancakes and filling.
To make the syrup
Boil sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat until it forms a syrup.
Turn off the heat, and add in the rose water.
To assemble
Pour the syrup over the allahuaila and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
Garnish with slivered pistachios and dried rose petals, if using.
Enjoy!