N for… Neyyappam!

Will the desi neyyappam win the ongoing naming poll for an Android version and go global? Malayalis have left no stone unturned in rooting for it.
Malayalis have brushed up their ‘collective social media skills’ yet again, no, not to insult anyone this time, but for a rather ‘sweet’ cause. Google, which normally gives its updated Android versions names of confectionery like Lollypop and KitKat, has invited users from all over the world to suggest names for its latest version.Its CEO Sundar Pichai, a Tamilian, had stated last year that an Indian sweet can be considered for the next Android version, and that he would be asking his mother for suggestions. But there was no need for that, for an innovative Malayali somewhere came up with a suggestion, neyyappam, the popular Kerala sweet, and it was soon taken up by Malayalis all over the world. A group of Bengaluru-based Malayali techies have even created a website to campaign for votes for neyyappam, and the Kerala Tourism Department is all gung-ho over the choice and have been tweeting in favour of it.
While other North Indian dishes like Naan and Nankhatai were trending initially, none had the perseverance of Malayalis apparently, and it was the modest little neyyappam which finally found a place among ‘nuts’ and ‘nachos’ in the homepage of the site.
And why not neyyappam, ask Malayalis. It is a sweet and it begins with an N, as stipulated by the company, thus winning over its somewhat poorer cousin, the unniyappam. “If Nutella can contest, why not neyyappam? All others sound similar while neyyappam will stand out,” says Manoj Thomas, a techie, while Poornima Menon, a homemaker, says, “From a Malayali perspective — there is an instant connect because most of us have some good ol’ childhood memories associated with it. Currently not many non-Malayalis know about it. Globally, everyone would be curious about what neyyappam is. Along with it, Kerala would get popular too.”
Also, the neyyappam is much-loved by a huge community of tech-savvy people spread across the world! What more could the search engine giant want?
Lohit Chandran, founder of Humans of Kochi has reasons to root for neyyappam and he says, “India comes out on top globally in terms of mobile subscriber growth. Every second, a mobile connection gets activated in India. What could be a better way to acknowledge this than by naming the next Android with an Indian sweet!”
Farzana Jayash, a college student, agrees, “Android versions have always been named after generic western sweets — Cupcake, Donut, Jelly Bean etc — so neyyappam would be a fresh, fun desi alternative.”
Apparently, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice-President of Android has commented that they have had “very intriguing results so far.’’ Neyyappam has been branded too difficult to pronounce by many non-Indian users but if you can pronounce marshmallow why not neyyappam, ask Malayalis. The final call goes to the company regardless of the polls, which is on till June 9, 12.29 pm. Meanwhile, many Malayalis have already started dreaming about Android neyyappam taking over the world, in true blue Dasan-Vijayan style, as Manoj says, “Neyyappam is going to make us proud of being Malayalis.”
The neyyappam has been an all-time favourite not just in temples but in children’s literature as well. One of the most popular songs go thus:
Ayyappantamma
Neyyappam chuttu
Kakka kothi kadalilittu
Munga piller mungiyeduthu
Thatta piller thattiyeduthu
Vangiya piller vayilumittu
Enikku mathram kittiyillallo!
In case all that talk about neyyappam has
left you craving for a bite, here is the recipe:
Rice flour - 1 cup
Jaggery, powdered - 1 cup
Cardamom - 4 pods
Ghee - 3 tsp
Dry grated coconut -1 tsp (optional)
Oil or ghee for frying
Water - 1 cup
Grind the rice flour into a thick paste. Add powdered cardamom. Add the powdered jaggery and grind again without adding water. Add ghee to the batter and mix well. If you’re using ghee to fry the appams, do not add ghee in the batter.
Roast the grated coconut and mix with the batter. Heat oil/ghee in a thick-bottomed frying pan. Pour small quantities of the batter using a ladle into the oil (the size of a cookie) and deep fry till it becomes dark brown in colour.