Simple tips to make soft, white Kerala appam

*It is necessary to first wash the rice and then soak it for eight hours.

*When grinding soaked rice, you can use coconut water instead of plain water. However, decrease the quantity of yeast (if using any) when you use coconut water.

*Just like in dosa, many people tend to add fenugreek powder while grinding. This will make the colour change.

*Refrigerated soaked raw rice makes good appams.

*While grinding, add little cooked rice as it makes the appams soft. Some also grind shredded coconut, sugar and salt.

*When pouring the batter into a vessel, keep ¼ of it free so that after fermentation, it does not overflow.

*Place a lid and let it ferment in a warm place. It takes about 8-10 hours to ferment, depending on the quality of the yeast used.

*Once the batter is fermented, add baking soda ½ hour before making appams. You can also add 1-2 tbsp of milk, this gives colour and adds more nutritional value.

*Don’t stir the mixture again until you pout it on the pan to make appams so that the air bubbles do not escape from the batter.

*It is a good idea to grease the appachatti or the appam pan with sesame or til oil one day before make appams. Also, sufficiently heat the pan before pouring in the batter. This helps the batter to not stick to the pan and appams come out clean.

*There is no need to flip the appam to cook the other side.

*Don’t store leftover batter for more than two days in the refrigerator as it has coconut.

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Here’s the recipe from chef Neha Deepak Shah.

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Ingredients

1 cup – Raw Ponni rice (washed and soaked for 5 to 6 hours)
½ cup – Cooked rice (regular boiled rice)
½ cup – Shredded fresh coconut
½ tsp – Salt
⅛ tsp – Dry yeast (Dry active or Instant yeast)
1 tsp – Sugar
¼ cup – Water
½ cup water for blending rice and some more water for adjusting the consistency later.

Method

*Mix the yeast, ¼ cup warm water, sugar and keep it aside until it turns frothy and foamy.
*In a blender, blend soaked rice, cooked rice, coconut and the yeast water.
*Slowly add ¼ cup water and make a smooth batter.
*You can add 1 tsp additional sugar to this and keep it to ferment for about 8-10 hours (best over night).
*After fermentation, add ¼ cup water and salt to make a thinner batter. Pour batter on a hot pan, swirl it, cover it and cook on medium hot flame.
*When the edges turn slightly brown, the appam will also leave the edges of the pan. Takes about 2-3 minutes to do this.
*Serve hot with some stew.

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