What is "neyyappam"

Neyyappam ( Malayalam: നെയ്യപ്പം) is a sweet rice-based fritter fried in ghee. Neyyappam has its origins in the southern Indian state of Kerala and is a signature food of Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, as per K. T. Achaya. It is also popular in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The name is derived from the words neyy ( നെയ്യ്) meaning "ghee" (clarified butter) and appam ( അപ്പം) meaning " pancake".

Neyyappam is typically made of rice flour (alternatively, with rava or semolina), jaggery, ghee-fried coconut (pieces or grated), ghee, cardamom and milk. It is served as a tea time snack usually in the evenings. Neyyappam is also served as offering in many traditional Saint Thomas Christian (Syrian Christian) churches and Hindu temples in Kerala. Unni appam is a variant in which mashed ripe plantains or bananas are added to the batter and fried to result in a ball-like shape.

Neyyappam became a topic of discussion as its name was shown on the home page of the Android N naming campaign. The official video of Google about naming Android N also shows a glimpse of neyyappam and Kerala tourism made a tweet about this naming campaign.