Appam (Risen rice pan cake)

Appam might be the most famous signature Kerala food in India; may be because there is nothing similar to that elsewhere. It is a simple risen rice (traditionally using palm toddy or using yeast these days) pan cake. However, if properly made and eaten with well made chicken, mutton or duck curries, or vegetable stew it can bring heaven to your mouth. The spongy texture of this pan cake will help to absorb the gravy and that combination gives its taste that is very hard to describe.

There is no single recipe to make appam. But the basis of all recipes is to get the rice flour mix risen properly.

Ingredients

1.fine rice flour - 2 cups
2.yeast - 1 tsp
3.sugar - 1 tbs
4.coconut milk - 1 cup

Steps

Ferment yeast with sugar and about 10 ml of lukewarm water ( about 10 minutes).

Take 1 tbs of rice flour, and boil it with water until it becomes thick and keep it aside to cool.( You can use fine rava instead of rice flour to make this mix for better results.). When the mix would be cold, add rice flour and coconut milk to it. Mix well using a spatula or blend it in a mixer. Add yeast to this batter and keep it overnight to rise.

Before making appam, add water or coconut milk to the risen batter to make it to a loose consistency. Add salt to taste and make appam in greased appam chatti (specialized pan for making appam) or non-stick pan.