Appams are lacy soft hoppers made from fermented ground rice. They are served with sweet coconut milk in Tamilnadu and in the State of Kerala, they are known as palappams. Palappams are served with vegetable or meat stew. At home, we make appams without yeast and they are devoured with sweetened coconut milk.
Ingredients:
Raw Rice – 1 3/4 cups
Idli rice/boiled rice – 1 1/4 cups
Fenugreek seeds/Methi – 3/4 tsp
Udad dal – 1 tbsp
Cooked raw/boiled/basmati rice – 1 tbsp
Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Soda bi-carbonate – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Preparation
Soak both the raw rice and the idli rice overnight for 5 – 6 hours. Grind it to a smooth consistency alongwith grated coconut and cooked rice in a wet grinder or mixie. Transfer to a wide and tall container as otherwise, the batter may overflow when it ferments.
Add salt and ferment it overnight for 10-11 hours. The batter is ready to make appams when it rises up and is fermented the next day.
To make the appams:
First, mix the soda bicarb with 1 tsp of water so that it dissolves well. Take little batter which is enough for about 6 appams (6 ladles) and add the soda into it. Mix it well and rest it for about 5 minutes. You need to mix the soda again for the next 6-10 appams as keeping the batter mixed with soda for a long time does not yield fluffy appams. Also, note that you cannot store the batter into which soda has been added.
Take a shallow pan/kadai with handles and smear some oil on the kadai. A typical appam pan works best for this though you can also use a non stick tava/iron tava. Pour a ladle full of batter and turn and swirl it slowly in circles so as to spread the batter. You can drizzle a few drops of oil, if you prefer.
Cover the pan and let the appam cook till the base becomes slightly golden in colour.
Remove and serve appams hot. You can serve these appams with potato stew or any meat curry also.
To make mutta/egg appams:
After you pour a ladle full of batter into the pan, swirl it gently in a circular motion to spread the batter around. Close it for a few minutes to let the appam cook a little. Open the lid and break an egg on the appam. Sprinkle pepper powder and salt and close it again to let it cook. Once it is done, take it out gently and serve.
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