Simple tips to make soft, white Kerala appam

South Indian breakfast ‘Appam’ with vegetable stew is known for its lovely taste. (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
Appam, a popular dish from Kerala, makes for a great breakfast option. Made with rice batter much like dosa, appams are usually savoured with vegetable stew, but can also be enjoyed with non-vegetarian sides. The gluten-free pancake-like soft appams are made using toddy (local alcoholic beverage made from coconut or palm flower), or dry active yeast. If you want to make your Friday breakfast interesting and try appams and stew, here are some things to keep in mind.

*Use only parboiled rice or first quality raw rice as it gives the appams a nice white colour and adds to the taste.

*It is necessary to first wash the rice and then soak it for eight hours.

*When grinding soaked rice, you can use coconut water instead of plain water. However, decrease the quantity of yeast (if using any) when you use coconut water.

*Just like in dosa, many people tend to add fenugreek powder while grinding. This will make the colour change.

*Refrigerated soaked raw rice makes good appams.

*While grinding, add little cooked rice as it makes the appams soft. Some also grind shredded coconut, sugar and salt.

*When pouring the batter into a vessel, keep ¼ of it free so that after fermentation, it does not overflow.

*Place a lid and let it ferment in a warm place. It takes about 8-10 hours to ferment, depending on the quality of the yeast used.

*Once the batter is fermented, add baking soda ½ hour before making appams. You can also add 1-2 tbsp of milk, this gives colour and adds more nutritional value.

*Don’t stir the mixture again until you pout it on the pan to make appams so that the air bubbles do not escape from the batter.

*It is a good idea to grease the appachatti or the appam pan with sesame or til oil one day before make appams. Also, sufficiently heat the pan before pouring in the batter. This helps the batter to not stick to the pan and appams come out clean.

*There is no need to flip the appam to cook the other side.

*Don’t store leftover batter for more than two days in the refrigerator as it has coconut.

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Here’s the recipe from chef Neha Deepak Shah.

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🌴Kerala is definitely true to what they say ‘GODS OWN COUNTRY’ Every trip to Kerala has made me fall in love with everything about it. The slow life, food, nature and just the calmness. 🌴🥥 Appam & Veggie Stew is our favourite ‘any meal’ dish. Here is the recipe of the appam I learnt from a local family in Fort Kochi. Traditionally they use fresh toddy to make this but yeast also works well & I personally love the results. 1 cup Raw Ponni rice (washed & soaked for 5 to 6 hours) 1/2 cup cooked rice (regular boiled rice) 1/2 cup shredded fresh coconut 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp Dry yeast (Dry active or Instant yeast) 1 tsp sugar 1/4 cup Water 1/2 cup water for blending rice & some more water for adjusting the consistency later. 1) Mix the yeast, 1/4 cup warm water & sugar & keep it aside until it turn frothy and foamy. 2)In a blender, blend soaked rice, cooked rice, coconut & the yeast water 3) Slowly keep adding 1/4 cup water and make a smooth batter. 4) You can add 1 tsp more sugar to this and keep it to ferment for about 8 to 10 hours (best over night) 5) Ideally you need an Appam Chetty which is like a small kadhai but I just made it in a small pan. 6) After fermentation add 1/4 cup water & salt to make a thinner batter. Pour batter on a hot pan, swirl it, cover it and cook on medium hot flame. 7) When the edges turn slightly brown, the appam will also leave the edges of the pan. Takes about 2 to 3 minutes to do this. 8) Serve hot with some Stew !! #Indian #India #Appam #SouthIndia #Recipe #EasyRecipe #Tasty #Yum #Delicious #Chef #ChefLife #InstaChef #Kerala #Keralagram

A post shared by Neha Shah (@nehadeepakshah) on Jul 9, 2020 at 1:04am PDT

Ingredients

1 cup – Raw Ponni rice (washed and soaked for 5 to 6 hours)
½ cup – Cooked rice (regular boiled rice)
½ cup – Shredded fresh coconut
½ tsp – Salt
⅛ tsp – Dry yeast (Dry active or Instant yeast)
1 tsp – Sugar
¼ cup – Water
½ cup water for blending rice and some more water for adjusting the consistency later.

Method

*Mix the yeast, ¼ cup warm water, sugar and keep it aside until it turns frothy and foamy.
*In a blender, blend soaked rice, cooked rice, coconut and the yeast water.
*Slowly add ¼ cup water and make a smooth batter.
*You can add 1 tsp additional sugar to this and keep it to ferment for about 8-10 hours (best over night).
*After fermentation, add ¼ cup water and salt to make a thinner batter. Pour batter on a hot pan, swirl it, cover it and cook on medium hot flame.
*When the edges turn slightly brown, the appam will also leave the edges of the pan. Takes about 2-3 minutes to do this.
*Serve hot with some stew.

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