Recipe for Aapam in Kerala

Appam Recipe - the Queen of Kerala is a fermented flat bread made out of Rice and Coconut. In Tamil, it is known as “Aappam“. The Srilankans prefer to call it as “appa” or “hopper“. Appam is specially popular among the Syrian Christians of Kerala and some say that Appam was adapted from Jewish people who migrated to Kerala. Times have changed and I would say, Appam has become an identity of all Keralites.

There are numerous variations of Appam like Palappam, Velayappam, Kallappam, Vatayappam and so on….. Palappam - It’s made by grinding rice and mixing with Coconut milk.  

Kallappam - Traditionally, made using Toddy but people substitute it with Yeast. It’s made by grinding Rice, Coconut scrapes, shallots and Cumin.

Velayappam - It’s more or less like Palappam – batter is made by grinding together Coconut and Rice. Coconut Milk is not used.

Appam - The simplest of all which is made using Rice Flour and Coconut Milk.

Here is the recipe for making Appam using Rice Flour and Coconut Milk. It’s pretty easy as you don’t have to soak rice, scrape coconut or grind anything. Well, this Appam tastes really good and is the easiest of all but for the original Palappam or Kallappam taste, you will have to grind rice and can’t use Rice Flour.

Ingredients

1. Rice Flour -  2 cups
2. Rapid Rise Highly Active Yeast – 1 tsp
3. Sugar – 4 tsp
4. Coconut Milk – 1 Cup
5. Water – 1/2 – 1 Cup
6. Salt – A pinch

PREPARATION METHOD FOR KERALA AAPAM OR KERALA APPAM

1. For making Kurukku which is a thick paste, take 2 cups of water in a saucepan and add 2 tbsp of rava. Bring it to a boil stirring continuously. Reduce the heat to low and continue stirring. When the mixture becomes a thick paste, remove it from heat and allow it to cool.
2. In a bowl, combine 2 cups of Rice Flour, 2 tsp Sugar, Rava Kurukku, 1 tsp Yeast along with 1 cup Coconut Milk and a pinch of salt. Add little water around 1/2 cup and whisk to form a thick batter. I use Fleischman Rapid Rise Yeast to avoid keeping the batter over night for fermentation.
3. Leave the batter for 2 hours and allow it to ferment.
4. Just before preparing, you can add 2 tsp of sugar, if you like your appam to be sweet. The batter should have a thick consistency similar to that of Iddly Batter. Add some milk if the batter is too thick. Whisk everything well.
5. Heat a Non Stick Tava and pour a ladle full of batter. Do not spread the batter with the ladle.
6. Cover with a lid and allow it to cook for around 2 minutes.
7. Turn the appam and cook the other side till slightly brown.
8. Serve with Egg or Chicken or any vegetable curry.

Appam batter

Note

• If you are using Active Dry Yeast, please follow the procedure given below:
• In a small bowl, combine 1 tsp yeast and 2 tsp sugar in 1/4 cup of luke warm water. Keep it aside for 10-15 minutes and allow it to rise.
• Mix it with the remaining ingredients and keep the batter over night for fermentation.

Appam and Curry

Palappam

For making Palappam, just before preparing, add 1/4 cup of coconut milk to the batter and mix well.

• Pour a ladle full of batter into a Palappa Chatti (deep round pan used for Palappams) and swirl the Pan lightly, spreading the batter to the sides of the pan.
• Cover with lid and allow it to cook for 3-5 minutes. When the edges are crisp, remove the palappam carefully from the pan.

If you like the edges or laces to be golden brown, add more sugar to the batter