Appam

- Submitted by Elizabeth

(Aapam, Palappam, Aapum)

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Appam (or Aapam) is a very popular breakfast item from Kerala. It is also made in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. These are spongy pancakes made with fermented raw rice and coconut batter. It is also known as the Palappam. Traditionally Kallu (toddy) was added to the aapam to aid fermentation thus giving its name Kallappam. Nowadays yeast is used instead. People who cannot find yeast or do not prefer yeast can use cooking soda (also called appam soda) to the batter just before making the aapams.

There is another type of appam, known as the vellappam which is quite similar. Palappam batter is thinner and is made in the traditional aapa chatty (aapam pan). Vellappam batter is thicker and is made in a normal pan. 

Recipe for Appam

Preparation Time : 10 hours
Cooking Time : 30 minutes
Serves : 4

Ingredients

• Raw Rice - 2 cups
• Shredded coconut - 3/4 cup
• Cooked rice - Handful (You could also use pressed rice/poha/aval instead)
• Yeast - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 2-3 tsp
• Salt - as needed

Method

1. Soak the rice for 2 hours. 
2. Grind coconut and cooked rice together in a blender first until smooth.
3. To this add the soaked rice and grind everything together. The batter should be smooth.
4. Add the yeast, salt and sugar and mix well. Let it ferment for few hours or overnight. The batter more than doubles with the yeast added.
5. Make Appam in the appam kal else make it like pancakes on regular pan. No need of adding oil. Pour a spoonful of batter and spread using circular motion by holding the handle of the appam pan. Some people like the center to be thick and spongey. If that is the case add little extra batter. If not make thinner appams.
6. Cover with a lid and let it cook for couple of minutes. If you prefer to have appams with lacy browned edges, cook it for 1-2 minutes extra.

Tips

• If you do not like the smell of yeast, add a pinch of baking soda 30 minutes before making the appams. 

Variations

• You can make 'Wheat Aapams' too. Make the batter by  mixing wheat flour with salt, sugar, yeast, coconut milk and water. Let the batter ferment and make aapams just like the above process.
• While making the aapams, if an egg is broken in the middle of the appam and then cooked, it is called 'Egg (Muttai) Appam'.

Serving Appam

• Serve the appam with sweetened coconut milk, stew, kadala (chikpea, kala chana) curry or with any kurma.

Appam with sweetened coconut milk

Appam with cauliflower curry

Other Tiffin Varieties

Aapam without coconut	Idiyappam	Vatalla appam	Onion Uthappam
See more ⟩⟩

Comment by uma maheswari
    your dishes are so gud and simple.. i m ur great fan
 
Reply :-
    Thank You so much.

Comment by Deepti S
    Hi,..appam looks yumm....want to try it soon. just wanna know raw rice is dosa rice or normal sona masoori rice.
 
Reply :-
    Raw rice is also called pachai arisi. It is different from dosa rice which is parboiled.

Comment by sangeetha shenoy
    is baking soda and soda powder the same?pls clarify
 
Reply :-
    Yes.

Comment by Sunitha Dsa
    Hi, Is Iddli Rice called Raw Rice.
 
Reply :-
    No.Idli rice is usually 'parboiled rice'.
    Rice is available in different forms : 1) When the outer chaff of the rice grain is removed, the rice is brown in colour called 'Brown rice'. 2) If the milling process is continued, all the bran is removed. The rice is polished and white in colour called 'Raw Rice' (Pacchai Arisi). 3) When rice is steamed before milling, it is called parboiled rice or boiled rice (puzhungal arisi). This retains some of the nutrients of the outer husk in the rice.        

Comment by Duggu Kavya
    It's really gud
 
Reply :-
    Thank You.

Comment by Mary Kutty
        Good recipe. You have mentioned 2 cups of rice. What exactly is the quantiry for 1 cup in this recipe?
 
Reply :-
    1 cup = 235 ml. For aapam, you could use any cup measurement. The quantities need not be very accurate.

Comment by leela Nayar
    Hi Dear,
    I like all appams. But since am an ailing person(kidney failure) am not supposed to eat yeast,coconut milk or coconut or coconut water, & b.soda. Can you pls tell me without all these to make appams. Any simple idea, it would be of great help to me. I am longing and wishing to eat this appam.
Thanks
- Nayar
 
Reply :-
    Hi Leela, very sorry to hear that. I just made a quick prayer for your healing. May God give you the strength and courage needed.
    About aapams, it is a common dish made both in tamil nadu and kerala. In some parts of tamil nadu, aapam is made in a slightly different way than Kerala. Here's how it goes - soak 2 cups of raw rice, 1/2 cup of urad dal and 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds for few hours. Grind it to make a smooth batter and let it ferment for 8 hours or overnight. The urad dal will aid the fermentation and you don't need any yeast. Just before making the aapams, usually a pinch of baking soda is added. Since you cannot have baking soda, just skip that part. If the batter is fermented properly, you will get holes as you would in traditional aapams. The taste will be slightly different from the traditional aapams with coconut, but it is a good alternative. You can have it with sweetened milk, any type of chutney or gravy. Hope this is helpful to you.

Comment by udaya s
    hey dahlia,
    Can i use basmati rice instead of raw rice?
 
Reply :-
    Hi Udaya, I dont think it will work out with basmati rice. It comes good with Long grain rice.

Comment by poorna chandran
    what is men my yeast the butter milk is called as yeast
 
Reply :-
    Yeast is a fungi that is very commonly used in baking bread and for many other cooking. You can find yeast in most of the grocery stores near the flours.

Comment by Sri devi
    Hi,
    Its very simple tiffen, i want to make it, can i use the raw rice flour instead of raw rice?
 
Reply :-
    Yes you can. In thats case mix coconut milk instead of grated coconut.

Comment by a Vivian Dhillon on 09 December 2009 03:03AM
    simple indian dishes please
 
Reply :-
    This is simple only vivian. Try it!!

Comment by a kasturi naik on 24 November 2009 05:07AM
    I tried this recipe yesterday.Instead of coconut i used coconut milk. Came out good. Excellent recipe. Thankyou.
 
Reply :-
    Good!!!

Comment by Monica sampath wilson on 24 July 2009 02:31AM
    Hi! i tried appam for the v.first time in my life with the help of your receipe and it came out really good & my kids loved it.i am also trying your other receipes. thanks for being a blessing and being so generous to share.God Bless u!!!
Thank you
 
Reply :-
    Thanks Monica..

Comment by mala rajani on 05 July 2009 09:55AM
    i am jeeva's best school friend archana's aunt here can i have ur contact want to meet u
    mala
 
Reply :-
    Sorry Mala. I think you have mailed the wrong person.

Comment by Roshi Gupta on 18 June 2009 06:34AM
    Hi may i use anything else other than yeast,as i am allergic to yeast? Thanks..

Reply :-
    Hi Roshi,  Just follow the recipe without adding the yeast. Half an hour before making the appams, just add 1/2 tsp of baking soda. This will give the same results.

Comment by jagada kesavalu on 03 May 2009 20:27PM
    hi elezabeth, one more tip for this is add ahandful of pressed rice rice should be soak and grind along with rice will be very soft as cotton. thank u
 
Reply :-
    Hi Jagada, I've used cooked rice instead of pressed rice which gives the same output. Thanks for the tips. I''ve added that tip too.

Comment by Uthara on 11 October 2008 03:53AM
    Hi Elizabeth,   Thanks for sharing this recipe. I tried it, and it turned out great.
Regards, Uthra
 
Reply :-
    Good to hear that Uthara.

Comment on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 9:40:27 AM
    hi dear i tried this on dosa pan it came out good for my kid i put some grated carrot capsicum beetroot n palk it look gr8 n tasted g8t too thnx
 
Reply :-
    Good, i've never tried adding vegetables to this.          
    appam taste

- by Rani on Tue 2/19/08 6:07 PM
    Hi Elizabeth, The same way i made appam instead of grated cocunut i added cocunut water to the flour.The taste was the same.I was wondering how the flour is going to raise but with yeast the task was very simple and less time consumption. Thanks and very Good Rani
 
Reply :-
    Thanks for trying out the recipe,Is that coconut water or Coconut milk you added?
 Very Good

- by Remya on Tue 2/19/08 1:14 AM
    Hi, I have been looking for this recipe online, but couldn't find one which was good.. Tried your kothu barotta recipe it came out very well. I used more Garam masala than what is said in the recipe... Loved it... thanks...
 
Reply :-
    Hi remya, good to hear that you liked the recipe. Kothu barotta is one of my all time favorites too. do try the appam and let me know how it turned out. eager to hear from u.