Appam/ Palappam/ Lacy soft hoppers are soft and fluffy Indian pancake prepared with fermented rice batter in appa kadai that is specially designed to make appam. Earlier I posted a appam recipe made with rice flour and got great feedback and few of them asked me to post appam batter with yeast and without yeast recipe. You can check the recipe for it below:
So today I am sharing with you a recipe on appam with yeast. This is again one of the traditional methods to prepare soft and fluffy appam which I learnt from my mom.
The method is very simple just grind, ferment and make appam but the perfect outcome is definitely decided by the batter consistency and also the fermentation, which definitely tells us that the batter plays an important role. The batter consistency can be little tricky but it is fine if you don’t get it right for the first time. After all experience is the best teacher right? I always find appam with yeast recipe easier in the sense of fermentation as the yeast will do its job anyways in the prescribed time, which is really good for people living in cold countries. Though I use yeast for making appam usually, I keep the vessel in oven with oven light on or in microwave after heating it for 30 secs. These are just my ways of getting the batter right but of course you can adopt your methods too. So let’s get to the making!
- 1. Raw rice – 1 cup
- 2. Poha/ Beaten rice – ¼ cup
- 3. Whole urad dal – 1 tbsp
- 4. Grated coconut – ½ cup
- 5. Yeast – 1 tsp
- 6. Water – ¼ cup (for yeast)
- 7. Sugar – 1 tsp
- 8. Salt – to taste
- 9. Oil – for making appam
- * 1 cup = 235 ml
- In a bowl add whole white urad dal, raw rice and poha together. Wash 3 to 4 times until you see clear water. Soak it in enough water for at least 6 hours.
- After 6 hours of soaking, take a blender add soaked urad dal, poha, raw rice and grated coconut without any water. Grind it into fine batter adding water little by little. I used around 1/2 cup water for grinding batter. The batter needs to be smooth and little thinner than dosa batter. Make sure is not thick nor thin as it plays a great role in appam outcome. Do not add too much as the batter should not be watery.
- When done transfer the batter to a bowl keep it aside. Now in another small bowl add luke warm water, yeast and sugar. Mix well using a spoon. Let it sit for 15 minutes or until frothy. When the yeast mixture looks frothy mix well and add it to the batter. Do not add salt now. Mix well and allow it to ferment for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.
- In the morning you will notice the batter with nice fermented aroma with all the bubbles. Mix it really well.
- Add little water to adjust the consistency, as we need the batter to in flowing consistency. Now add salt and mix well. So when the batter is ready heat a appam kadai. Pour a ladleful batter in the preheated appa kadai and spread the batter and twirl it to get a thin lace kind edges. Cover the appam pan with lid and cook for 4 to 5 minutes in medium flame. Do check it in between to prevent burning.
- After 4 to 5 minutes when the edges have browned and when the center has risen/ looks fluffy slide it the plate. Repeat the process till all the appam batter is complete. Serve appam with white vegetable kurma/ stew of your choice!
How to make appam with step by step images
- In a bowl add whole white urad dal, raw rice and poha together. Wash 3 to 4 times until you see clear water. Soak it in enough water for at least 6 hours.
- After 6 hours of soaking, take a blender add soaked urad dal, poha, raw rice and grated coconut without any water. Grind it into fine batter adding water little by little. I used around 1/2 cup water for grinding batter. The batter needs to be smooth and be in flowing consistency. Make sure it is not thick nor thin as it plays a great role in appam outcome. Do not add too much as the batter should not be watery.
- When done transfer the batter to a bowl keep it aside. Now in another small bowl add luke warm water, yeast and sugar. Mix well using a spoon. Let it sit for 15 minutes or until frothy.
- Just look at the first picture in collage the batter should be like that. When the yeast mixture looks frothy mix well and add it to the batter. Do not add salt now. Mix well and allow it to ferment for 8 to 10 hours or overnight.
- In the morning you will notice the batter with nice fermented aroma with all the bubbles. Mix it really well. Add little water to adjust the consistency if needed, as we need the batter to in flowing consistency. Now add salt and mix well.
- So when the batter is ready heat a appam kadai. Pour a ladleful batter in the preheated appa kadai and spread the batter and twirl it to get a thin lace kind edges. Cover the appam pan with lid and cook for 4 to 5 minutes in medium flame. Do check it in between to prevent burning. After 4 to 5 minutes when the edges have crisped and when the center has risen/ looks fluffy slide it the plate. Repeat the process till all the appam batter is complete. Serve appam with white vegetable kurma/ egg stew of your choice!