Appam / lacy hoppers…

Appam are famous breakfast pancakes made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk from “God’s own country” Kerala. These white lacy pancakes have a crisp side with a soft fluffy center. Appam recipe uses minimal ingredients are simple to make and usually served with a r vegetable stew , chicken stew, sweetened coconut milk, Kerala egg cury, egg roast etc…

For preparing Appam we will need …

Ingredients:
2.5 cups raw rice I used basmati
1cup grated coconut OR 1cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup cooked rice
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp yeast ( to help with fermentation)

Appam Batter:

1. Soak the raw rice for at least 4 hours. Add the grated coconut OR coconut milk ,sugar and cooked rice to this and grind to an almost-smooth batter. A slight grainy texture is fine. Add yeast , salt to taste and set aside …

2. Add enough water to the fermented batter make the consistency of the batter easily pourable. You can also add coconut milk + water to dilute the batter .

To Prepare the Appams :

1.Heat an appam chatti or a kadai with a round base.
You need a pan or kadai with a lid that fits without gaps.
2. Pour about 1/2 cup batter (depending on the size of your kadai)…
3. Twirl the kadai or chatti once or twice to coat the side of the kadai with the batter. If you twirl once, you get a lacier, crisper edge and if you twirl twice, you get a softer edge.
4. Close the kadai and cook for 3-4 mins.
5. You will see that the edges leave the sides of the pan and the centre is cooked soft. Once the appam is completely cooked, gently take it out into a plate. ( remember not to flip the appams )
6. When cooking the appam, keep flame on low and always cook with lid on . If the flame is too high, the centre will not cook and if the pan is not closed, the appam will dry out.
7. If you don’t have an appa chatti, you can use an omlette pan and cook them like pancakes, one at a time.Don’t flip them,just cook them on one side.