Perfect Appam Batter | Kerala Appam Recipe

ABOUT

Appam is a thin Pancake made with fermented rice and coconut traditionally cooked in an ‘appachatti’, a deep pan similar to wok but considerably small. They are popular in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Srilankan Cuisines. They are served best for breakfast or dinner with Egg curry or Vegetable stew or Kurma.

Appam has a unique texture unlike regular dosa/Pancake and attaining that is what makes it an interesting dish. It must have a crispy thin and golden periphery with spongy, fluffy and white centre. It is basically cooked without oil or ghee with lid closed. It shouldn’t be flipped like regular dosa and must be cooked only one side. Appam batter also called palappam uses either coconut milk or coconut grating.

My mom is someone who aces her Kerala recipes and I get to know from her that some even use tender coconut water for better fermentation since they avoid yeast. There are various methods to do Appam batter and each one have their own recipes. But this recipe is super simple with minimum ingredients and is 100% foolproof since we live on it and make probably twice a month. Just follow the steps and you can become expert making perfect appams.

MAJOR INGREDIENTS

Rice

Raw rice /Pacharisi is authentically used for Appam. However, some uses Idly rice too. We always prefer raw rice , as it gives the authenticity and exact taste. Soaking rice properly gives you better results while grinding.

Coconut

Coconut is a major ingredient for an Appam. It gives the softness, the taste, the flavor and aroma and what Not?!!. We have used coconut grating. In addition to coconut grating, add coconut milk for rich flavor.

Boiled rice

Boiled rice can be ponni rice, Matta rice or anything that is leftover. If you want a replacement, then add soaked poha/avil which gives similar results.

TIPS AND NOTES

1. For soft Appam , use fresh coconut gratings. Coconut grating provides you spongy and soft Appam.
2. To enhance the taste, instead of water, you can add coconut milk (replacing 1 cup of water). This gives a rich and aromatic sweet Appam.
3. Don’t miss adding sugar, as it gives a slight sweetness and more importantly the crispy bright colour.
4. Yeast is optional, in case you don’t have yeast , skip and just ferment it overnight or 6-8 hours.
5. You can take a part of grounded batter 1/4 cup and heat it, it becomes like a paste. Now add it and grind the batter once again. This may also be used as a method if you skip yeast.
6. Using tender coconut water helps in fermentation. If you are in colder region, you can try it.
7. Add either Matta rice or normal ponni rice , which gives a softness and glue-e-ness to the batter.
8. Batter should be poured in hot appachatti, only then you can get perfect pores and crispiness.
9. The batter should be thin, only then, when you swirl, you can get a thin coating along the edges. Which in turn results in thin crispy edges and spongy centre.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Take Raw rice / Pacharisi /Raw ponni rice, wash them twice and soak them for 4 hours.

After soaking, strain the water and add it to a mixer jar. Now add grated coconut to it. Coconuts are preferred to be tender and sweet as well as fresh.

Now add either normal boiled rice or matta rice (Kerala rice) to the mixer jar. You can use leftover cooked rice or even freshly cooked rice. This gives the softness and act as a glue to the batter.

Grind everything to a fine batter by adding water, little by little. When you take the batter and rub your fingers it should feel soft and smooth.

To a small bowl , take warm water and add yeast and sugar.

If you are adding instant yeast, you can add the yeast and sugar directly to the batter. If not soak them in warm water till it activates.

It takes around 10-15 minutes. Once it’s activates it will have some bubbles as shown. Look for the expiry date of yeast. Expired yeast will not be activated and will not work.

Now add them to the Appam batter and give a nice mix.

Now let the batter ferment completely. Since we have added yeast, it ferments very quick in 1-2 hours and you are ready to use.

If you don’t have yeast, you can feel free to skip but you have to ferment a little longer around 6-8 hrs or overnight. In order to get the perfection without yeast, you can take a small quantity of batter and cook in low flame. It becomes like paste. You can add that paste to batter and mix well as a replacement.

Now take either non stick or cast iron appa chatti. Non stick may not give the outer crispiness as like cast iron, however both works pretty good. Pour 1.5 ladle of Appam batter to the appachatti and swirl the chatti in clockwise direction till the batter spreads.

The batter should be thin, only then the batter will spread evenly. The Appam pan heats quick, so you have to be really fast while swirling. You will automatically get pores and air pockets if your batter is perfect.

Close and cook the Appam in medium flame. We shouldn’t flip it and no oil should be used. It cooks in its own steam.

Once you open, you can see some beautiful Appam. The best part is that it takes very less time to cook and serves you faster.

Look at the ends and centre, just perfect!! The edges are golden and super crispy, whereas the centre in spongy and fluffy.

Serve with egg curry , Kurma , coconut milk or any spicy gravy of your choice. Enjoy!! Happy Eating!!.

STORAGE

Appam batter can be stored in fridge for up to one week as like normal Idli dosa batter. If it doesn’t get sour , you can use it even longer. Hot climate cities can store only up to a week as it gets sour after that.