July 4, 2021

Appam – Kerala style

Appam also called palappam, vellayappam, vattayappam or kallappam is a popular breakfast dish in Kerala with crispy edges and soft at center. This soft hoppers made with fermented rice batter when served with vegetable stew, egg roast or mutton stew will certainly blow your mind.
Traditional appam known an kallapam were made with kallu instead of yeast for fermentation (kallu also known as toddy made from coconut tree flower is a local beverage in Kerala).

History

One of the most common recipes consumed in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka is culturally linked to the Syrian Christians, who bake appam on a stone.

It was speculated in Southern tip of India at first, and researchers consider it to be originated from the Jewish Communities of India.

Ingredients

2 Cups raw rice

1 cup cooked rice

1 tea spoon dry yeast

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 table spoon sugar

1 tea spoon salt

How to cook

Making the batter
Soak the raw rice in water for few hours
Add the soaked raw rice, cooked rice, shredded coconut, sugar, salt, yeast to a grinder.
Grind them till the mixture is very smooth.
The better need to be prepared at least 3 hours before cooking or it can be prepared and refrigerated overnight.

Making appam
Heat appam kadai or appa chatti until hot. Ladle some batter into the kadai in the middle. Slowly rotate the pan to make the appam batter adhere to all over the sides of the pan. Cover with a lid and let it cook for a minute on medium flame. Appam is ready to serve!

If you are in Kerala, do visit Alleppey where you will get the best appam served with alleppey duck curry which is a killer combination.