Kerala Appam / Palappam

 
Event: Blogging Marathon #56
Theme: Indian States
My choice: Kerala

Now I am moving back again to south India for a batch of yummy Kerala appams. Appam is a pancake made with fermented batter of rice and coconut milk and is equally popular in the neighboring  state of Tamil Nadu and even Sri Lanka where they go by the name hoppers. They get their bowl like shape because of the appachatti, the concave pan in which they are made. 

I somehow had the notion that appams are supposed to be pristine white and got carried away in the process. I did not realize until later that they are supposed to be a beautiful golden brown hued ones as I noticed on the blogs featuring Kerala cuisine. And besides, I didn't have the traditional pan and had to do away with my kadai in which twirling the batter was kinda tricky and so could not achieve perfect shaped appams. Sigh! Now when that is off of my chest, I must admit that besides all that, they do taste really yummy with a delicate coconut flavor and I am in awe at the variety of rice based dosas made in India.

Recipe Source: Kurryleaves
Ingredients:
1&1/2 cups raw rice
1/2 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup shredded fresh coconut
1&1/2 cup water
1.5 to 3 tbsp. Sugar
1/ 4 tsp. Active dry yeast
Salt to taste
Oil to make doss

Method:

* Wash rice with two exchanges of water and drain. Soak it in water for about 3 to 4 hours and drain.
* Grind together the soaked rice, cooked rice, coconut and 1 cup water into a smooth batter using a grinder / blender. (I added salt too at this point though the original recipe mentions to add after fermentation.)
* Add sugar, yeast and the remaining water and grind for a minute to combine. 
* Transfer the batter to  large mixing bowl (to facilitate the rising batter) and leave it in a warm place overnight or 6 - 10 hours depending upon the temperature outside, until it doubles in volume.

* After the fermentation, gently stir in the salt and leave it aside for another 30 minutes. The batter will rise a bit more and turns light and frothy. (I did not notice the second time rising and so have been adding salt while grinding now.)
* Heat appachatti / concave cast iron or a nonstick pan / cast iron or non stick kadai on medium high flame. Gently grease the pan with oil.
* Gently pour a ladleful of batter at the center and swirl the pan carefully to spread the batter into a circle. Cover and cook until the edges turn golden brown. 
* Repeat the steps with the remaining batter.
* Serve appam warm with ishtoo, kadala curry or any other vegetable curry or even a chutney.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56

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