Appam – A Kerala Household Staple
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- 1 cup Grated coconut
- 1 cup Flattened white rice
- 1/2 cups Yogurt (Not sour)
- 1/2 cups Coconut water
- 1-2 cups Water
- 1/4 cups Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoons Salt
- 1/2 teaspoons Instant yeast
Wash rice three to four times. Soak in 8 cups of water for a minimum of 3 hours.
Drain soaked rice and grind in a mixer for 30 seconds. Add flattened rice, coconut, yogurt and coconut water and grind for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the mixer, add 1/2 cup of water and grind again in 30 second intervals. Add 1/4 cup of water at a time and grind to a smooth batter.
Transfer the batter to a big bowl (leave enough space for the batter to rise). Add sugar, salt and yeast and mix the batter. Cover and let it rest at room temperature for a minimum of 4 hours. (Ferment upto 6 hours maximum)
Once the batter has risen, stir well.
Heat an appam kadai on high flame. Once the kadai/ appam chatti is hot, pour one ladle of batter. Swirl the pan one full circle to spread the batter around in a circle.
Cover the kadai, lower the flame to medium low and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. If centre is uncooked, cover for 1 minute more and check.
Open and increase the flame and cook for another 30 seconds, so that edges brown lightly.
Remove and serve warm.
Instant yeast - You can substitute it with active yeast. Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water. If it's too hot, the water will kill the yeast. Stir and keep it covered for 5 minutes. It will become frothy implying yeast is active. If it doesn't become frothy, discard. Either yeast has expired or the water was too warm for yeast.
Yogurt - Here I have used homemade yogurt. Make sure it's not sour. You can always use unflavoured storebought yogurt.
Flattened rice - Thin white flattened rice is recommended for this recipe. If the rice flakes are thick, soak in 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes before grinding. Brown flattened rice will give a different colour to the appams.
If the appachatti or kadai is too hot, batter will cook fast and you won't be able to swirl the batter well. If the appachatti or kadai is too cold, batter won't stick.