I am a big fan of fusion recipes and absolutely love creating new and innovative recipes from our basic day-to-day recipes. I am frequently entertaining guests, as I love hosting and having friends come over. Therefore, you can imagine I am always in the search of nice finger food that is hassle-free, can be easily served to guests, is easy to assemble, and pleases everyone’s eyes.

One such amazing party food is Canapés. They are a type of hors d’œuvre served over a piece of bread or pastry. Therefore, you get it right, it’s just a sophisticated piece of the small bite which is served at parties and formal events.

I decided to this classic a lovely Indian twist and make my canapés using small Uttapams as a base. I decided to top them off with my favorite South Indian toppings like curry leaves, mustard seeds, and some cherry tomatoes and sesame & fennel seeds for a little fusion. Feel free to get creative and add capsicums, onions, or any other topping of your choice.

I hope you like my idea and love it. I made these for some friends who are not even fond of south Indian cuisine and it was a hit even with them because of all the fusion and lovely flavors here.

PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
SERVINGS: About 25
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Low

INGREDIENTS: 

For the mini Uttapam canapés: 
  1. Semolina – 1 cup
  2. Yogurt – ½ cup
  3. Fruit soda – 1 teaspoon
  4. Vegetable oil – 1-2 tablespoons
  5. Salt – to taste
For the toppings:
  1. Cooking oil – 1 tablespoon
  2. Curry Leaves – about 10
  3. Green Chillies – 4-5, slit
  4. Cherry tomatoes – a handful
  5. Mustard seeds – 1 tablespoon
  6. Fennel seeds – 1 teaspoon
  7. Sesame seeds – 1 tablespoon
  8. Peeled Peanuts – a few
  9. Split chickpea lentil/Chana Dal – 1 tablespoon

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

  1. Bowl
  2. Whisk
  3. Non-stick Pan
  4. Wooden spoon
  5. Small tempering pan

RECIPE:

For the mini Uttapam canapés –
  1. Mix semolina, yogurt, and about half a cup of water and let it sit for 2-3 hours.
  2. Once the mix is ready, add some fruit soda and salt to taste to the batter. Make sure that the batter has the needed consistency, add some water if too thick.
  3. Take a non-stick flat pan/Tawa and grease it lightly with some oil.
  4. Now take a tablespoon and start spreading small amounts of batter to make small Uttapam discs on the non-stick Tawa. I was able to make 4 small Uttapams in one go.
  5. Keep the heat on medium-low. After 2-3 minutes, once the uttapams cook on one side, flip them to the other side.
  6. Remove the uttapams from heat after a minute or so once they cook on the other side too.
  7. Sprinkle some cold water on the pan and again spread small disc-shaped uttapams on the pan.
  8. Repeat the steps until the batter gets over.
  9. Spread all the uttapams into serving trays at some distance.
For the toppings –
  1. Now take a small tempering pan and add some oil to it and allow it to get slightly hot.
  2. Add some mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Remove them from the pan and drain excess oil and spread them on some of the uttapams.
  3. Similarly, do the same with curry leaves, slit green chilies sesame seeds, fennel seeds, peanuts and chana dal one by one and keep adding them as toppings on some of the uttapams.
  4. Now cut some cherry tomatoes and add them to the oil and remove them in about 30 seconds. Add them as toppings too. You can also keep them raw.

I hope you have added some toppings on all the uttapam canapés and they look super colorful and cute. Serve this with an onion – tomato chutney dip and impress your guests.

If you love some fancy and fusion party food, also check out the recipe to my Pumpkin Pao Bhaji Bruschetta.