Appam is one among the traditional breakfast dishes of Kerala which include Idli, Dosa and puttu. It is famous with veggie counterpart like potato stew and non-veggie counterpart like spicy egg curry, chicken curry or any other meat. It is consumed everywhere in Kerala, but is a specialty of Syrian Christian’s homes and it is inspired from Jewish dishes. Amma did not make appam in the house hence appa used to get it from restaurant for us. Appam has an unique bowl shape from the pan it gets cooked and has lacey structure from the air bubbles created during fermentation.
You can make palappam with rice flour or by grinding the raw rice along with grated coconut and then fermenting with toddy. Getting toddy is not easy task nowadays so it is replaced with coconut water or yeast. There are some techniques to make soft palappam such as adding some thari kuruku (a small portion of coarse ground rice/ semolina cooked to form a thick paste ) and this past is added back to batter before fermentation, or sometimes adding baking powder to the batter after fermentation and before making the appam. It is necessary that while making appam, the batter has to be stirred as frequently as possible make a thin loose batter. The batter is then cooked in the pancake pan. So it will be a good idea to pour the batter into small bowl and using the batter from the small bowl. Pouring out small quantities from the bowl makes the process easy. As the big vessel containing is batter is undisturbed it continues to ferment creating tiny air bubbles which makes the appam soft.
On my last visit to India, I bought the special pancake pan/appachatti. Uniqueness of this pancake is that when you pour the batter into the appachatti you are not spreading the batter with ladle, but by circular motion the batter gets itself spread like crepes. It is then steamed by covering with a lid to cook no flipping of other side is involved.
I have seen a counter part of appam in neighboring state Tamil Nadu where they add urad dal/split black gram along with rice. I haven’t tried this dish though. Appam has little sweetness from tiny amount of sugar used. Smoothness is from yeast action, cooked rice and also thari kukurkku. It goes well any spicy curry. I made appam by grinding raw rice along with cooked rosematta rice, grated coconut and coconut water. Then the batter was fermented with yeast and tharikurukku to make soft appam. I made egg curry to go with them. Here goes the recipe.
One year ago: South African Crunchies
Print recipe from here
How I made
Raw rice: 1 cup
Sugar: 1 tablespoon
Grated coconut: ½ cup
Cooked rice: ¼cup
Coconut water: ½ cup
Instant yeast: ¼ teaspoon
Salt: ¼ teaspoon or to taste
Tharikurukku/Kappi/coarse ground paste: 2 tablespoon of coarsely ground batter
Water: ½ cup
How I made
Soak the raw rice for 6 hours or overnight.
Grind all ingredients expect salt, sugar and yeast into a fine paste. When the batter slightly coarsely ground remove 2 tablespoon of batter and set aside. Then continue grinding until you get fine paste.
In a small sauce pan add coarsely ground batter plus ½ cup of water and heat it until the mixture become thick and cooked well. Set aside for cooling. Once it is cooled add back to appam batter. To this add yeast, sugar and set aside for fermentation about 8 hours.
When you are ready to make the appam add salt and set aside for 5 minutes.
Heat appachatti/appam pan over medium low heat, you can test whether pan is ready by a adding a drop of water and it sizzles immediately then it is ready to make pancake. Then pour a ladle of batter into the pan. Lightly swirl the pan so that batter gets coated all over and form the shape of round pancake however center part is slightly thick compared to sides. Cook the pancakes on 1 side until they are set by covering with lid, until crisp on the sides and cooked in the center. Transfer pancakes to a plate while you make the rest.
Enjoy with any spicy curry.
Preparation time: 15 minutes+ 6 hour soaking time+ 8 hours fermentation time.
Yield: 10no
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: yes I will
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
G.Pavani says
it has been long i have eaten this..looking delicious n tempting..
Reeni says
The little coconut pancakes look delicious Swathi! I love coconut and these are special.
Mary says
This really looks wonderful. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
Faith says
Love coconut and your pancakes look really delicious, Swathi!
Sowmya says
Beautiful appams....so soft and delicious!
Vegetarian Cultural Creatives
Quay Po Cooks says
I love Appam. Got to make this one day. Bookmarked this. Thanks.
Sarah Naveen says
enikku ippo venam...yummy!!
sanjeeta kk says
The appams look so soft and fluffy!
Lite Bite
Joanne says
I love anything with coconut in it! These look super delicious!
Prathibha says
lovely appams...looks yummy
Elisabeth says
Never had Appam...look so yummy, and not so difficult to make.
Thank you for sharing yet, another amazing recipe!
I hope you had the best Mother's Day...ever:DDD
deepthi says
hey they look lovely :)...happy to follow ur space...they make nice breakfast :).....i will try it definetly 🙂
Vardhini says
First time here .. aapam looks yummy .. nice pictorial .. happy to follow you.
Do visit my blog when you get a chance.
Vardhini
VardhinisKitchen
Sukanya Ramkumar says
Appam is my fav. U recipe sounds so different. YUM!
Angela says
You know we are mad about pancakes in my family. I will have to give this recipe a go.
Now Serving says
absolutely delightful presentation and delicious dish, Swathi 🙂
Adelina says
these are so delightfully light and tempting- fit for my breakfasts for sure! now: can you cater them? :)))
Ananda Rajashekar says
perfectly done@ i heart appam any time....we eat with fresh sweet coconut milk....:)
Nandini says
I love this meal! It's my favourite...Yummy n delicious!
girlichef says
They are so beautiful...I love the lacey appearance. Would love to try them 😀
El Oteador de los Mercados says
That very special pancakes. I've never tested well, with rice and coconut. Must be delicious. Eating them with a spicy curry I love it.
Food Glorious Food! says
I am sooo hungry now and your appam is making me crazy! Delicious!! It must have been!
Peggy says
What beautiful rice pancakes!
Suja says
Perfect and healthy breakfast,my favorite.
Malar Gandhi says
Love appams so much, delicious preparation...luks like lot of hard work goes into that.
Babli says
Appam looks soft, yummy and tempting. Wonderful presentation.
Chitra says
U reminded my mom's make. looks mouthwatering.
Kurinji says
goes well with coconut milk.
Alessandra says
These pancakes look great! And happy birthday to your daughter! 2 is a great age!
Ciao
Alessandra
Rebecca from Chow and Chatter says
love these my mum in law makes them so well 🙂 hugs
Marus says
A fantastic breakfast. I will have to prove it. Good weekend
Priya says
Seriously am hungry, my fav appam looks simply fabulous..
Lena Rashmin Raj says
appam + muttaq curry.. wowww what a combo.. and the color of that gravy is amazing.... Swathi, i just saw ur previous post.. belated bday wishes to ur princess.. she s so cute.. 🙂
sinfullyspicy.com says
These look great Swathi.I had lots of these with vegetable stew on a trip to Kerala.I had the ones with hump in the centre.Very healthy and tasty.
Kankana says
Appam is my all time fav dish with spicy chicken curry .. 🙂
http://www.sunshineandsmile.com
Hamaree Rasoi says
Ohhhh these looks so soft and delicate appams...Wish I could have these right now
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
Miriam says
Those pancakes look so beautiful and delicate! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Sensible Vegetarian says
Perfectly made Palappam, looks so spongy and like a beautiful woven lace.
Mélange says
My fav breakfast there Swathi.Looks cute.
Priya Sreeram says
perfect looking appams swathi- my idea of great breakfast- appam n ishtooooooo; egg curry looks swell too
srividhya Ravikumar says
looks lovely dear....
Ellie (Almost Bourdain) says
thanks for sharing this recipe. I love appam and have been looking for a recipe.
Premalatha Aravindhan says
U r making me hungry dear,luks very soft and delicious Appam...Perfect.
Vimitha Anand says
I love appams and this combination with egg masala is to die for... Yummy and great...
Jay says
I bet those are soooooooooooooper soft n delicious..
Tasty Appetite
RS says
Lip Smacking pancakes:)
savitha ramesh says
Feel like grabbing one.love the softness.
Cool Lassi(e) says
This is what I want for Mother's day breakfast..I am famished, just looking at it!
divya says
wow.. i am drooling here.looks so good..
alison says
good explanation,look so good!:)
Pushpa says
Soft and yummy appams.Love it with coconut milk.
Sobha Shyam says
Appams are my fav..nice explanations..appams look perfect :)..visit my space when time permits!!
Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal says
They have come out so well dear, mouth watering.