Submitted By:Preetha Peethambar

Hope you like this recipe from my mother’s kitchen which I often make in North America.

Ingredients
1cup Raw rice
2cups coconut shavings
1/2 cup cooked rice
1tsp yeast granules
1tsp sugar
salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method
Soak the rice in water for about 4-5 hours and blend it with all the above ingredients except yeast,salt and sugar.Once a smooth batter is obtained which is of pourable consistency,add in the yeast granules along with a tsp of sugar and leave it to ferment for about 6hrs in a warm place.

Once the batter is fermented add in the salt according to taste.Delayed addition of salt will allow the yeast to work better.Following fermentation if the batter has thickened considerably,it can be made a little thin by addition of water/coconut water(if available).

Heat a deep round bottomed skillet/kadai and add a tsp of oil and allow it to spread evenly.Add about one large spoon of batter and spread the batter evenly by moving the vessel to get a round appam.Close a lid and allow the appam to cook for about a minute or until the batter seems to be cooked.Peel the appam of the skillet.This goes well with egg or chicken curry.

Note:Arrack (spirit from coconut sap) is added to get a strong aroma and allow fermentation when appam is made in kerala.But addition of yeast gives pretty much the same result
Coconut water too is substituted for plain water,but I have found water to be good enough.