How to make hoppers or Kerala paal appam at home

Method

Preparing the batter

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Ingredients

Rice and coconut batter

Kappi Kachal

Adding Kappi into the batter

Adding sugar

Adding yeast

Adding coconut paste to the fermented batter

1. Wash the raw rice a few times till water runs clear and then soak it in water for about four hours till it becomes soft enough to grind. Soak the rice flakes as well in a few tablespoons of water too.

2. After about four hours, drain the water and transfer the rice and rice flakes to a blender and add the required amount of coconut water in small measures to grind the batter. You should get a medium thick, finely grounded batter.

3. Take two tablespoon of rice batter and pour it in a pan and add about 200 to 300 ml of water to it, to create a thin consistency. Boil it on a medium flame till it starts to thicken. Make sure to continuously stir the mix with a spatula. Thereafter keep this aside for cooling. This process is called ‘Kappi Kaachil’.

4. Once the mix or known as kappi cools down, mix this with the remaining rice batter and then add the yeast and sugar. Mix it well. Cover the utensil, and keep it aside for about five hours to ferment and rise.

5. Meanwhile grind the coconut into a fine paste with any remaining coconut water. If you fall short, you can add lukewarm drinking water. Keep aside.

6. When the batter has risen, add the coconut paste, along with some more salt and sugar based on taste. Again, cover and keep it aside for about one hour for the batter to rise.

Making paal appam, lace appam or hoppers:

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Pour measured serving of batter into the curved pan

Wait for a beat and then gently swirl it around

Cook for a few minutes

A cooked hopper will automatically leave the edges of the pan

Take an ‘appachatti’ (a small steeply curve shaped pan) and heat it on a medium flame. Add a bit of oil, swirl it around and season the pan. Once the pan becomes hot, take one big spoon of risen batter from the top without disturbing the rest of the batter and swirl it in the pan to achieve the round shape of the hopper. Lower flame to medium to low. Close the pan with its lid and cook for about one minute.

Open the pan, if the edges are golden and the center looks cooked, gently pull the hopper from the sides with a slim-edged spatula and scoop it out. Be careful so as not to break it.

Your delicious hopper is ready to be eaten.

Sobha Varghese

A home maker based in Mumbai, who runs a popular YouTube blog called ‘Sobha's Kitchenette’ that focuses on authentic and traditional Kerala recipes.

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