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Hindi
Appam is similar to dosa in some ways and both require preparation in advance. Traditionally, the appam batter is fermented using toddy – which is a common and popular local alcoholic drink of the region. But we wouldn’t prefer using this in daily cooking so we can ferment the batter using yeast. The yeast gives the light, fluffy feel to the appam but you can avoid it if you wish.
Appam requires the use of coconut milk but if you have fresh coconut available, you can directly add it to the batter while grinding it. The interesting part is you need to add both salt and sugar to the batter to balance the taste.
Restaurant style appam is made in a kadhai or wok. This gives it its characteristic basket shape. The vegetable stew can either be served on the side or within the appam basket. Appam is also a good accompaniment to several non-veg curries. For vegetarians, you can have appam with chic peas curry, potato stew, vegetable korma or coconut chutney. If you have a sweet tooth, you can serve appam with sweetened coconut milk. It definitely goes to add a nutty flavour to the dish.
Appam
Ingredients
- 250 grams Idli Rice
- 100 grams Fresh Coconut (grated)
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Instant Yeast or Active Dry Yeast
- Salt to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons Oil
Instructions
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Wash and soak the rice in water for 6 hours.
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Drain the water from rice.
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Grind both rice and coconut to a smooth paste.
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Add water as needed to make a thin paste-like batter, quite thinner than the regular dosa ones.
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Add sugar and instant yeast. Whisk well.
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If you want to add active dry yeast, bloom it and add to the ground mixture of rice and coconut.
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Cover with a lid and keep it for fermentation overnight in a warm place.
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Next morning it will swell up and becomes bubbly.
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Add salt as per taste and whisk the mixture well.
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Heat the appachatti or a non-stick pan on low flame.
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When it gets heated just a bit, pour a ladle of batter in the center and quickly swirl the appachatti / non-stick pan so that the batter spreads in a circle.
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Do not spread the batter with a spatula or spoon as it will break, only swirl the pan.
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Also, if the pan is too hot, the batter will get cooked and will not spread.
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Apply little oil all over and let it cook for a few minutes till it turns light golden brown.
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The appam needs to be cooked only on the bottom side.
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Remove and serve it with any stew or vegetable.
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Let the pan cool down a little bit before making the next one otherwise, the batter will not swirl and spread.
