Many of the southindian breakfast menu is made using rice in different
forms as carbohydrate is very necessary to start the day energetically.
Vellai Appam, is a spongy soft breakfast dish from the God's own country - Kerala. The sides are thin and the centre will be thick and spongy in texture as well as in feel. The recipe I share here is got from my friend which is prepared without coconut or yeast. Mostly coconut is ground along with the soaked rice to which the water from coconut is added. This kind of appam tastes different & good in its own way.
If you don't have coconut or feeling lethargic yet want to enjoy the appam, here is the simple preparation. Few tips are also added then and there to guide you to make a flawless spongy appams :-
There is a special wok in which it is prepared. The wok is made of iron and comes with a lid. If you don't have the wok AKA 'appa chatti' don't worry, you can still make it using a non-stick tava or pan.
- Raw rice - 1 cup
- Boiled rice - 1 cup
- Urad white - 1 tbsp
- Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
- Salt to taste
- sugar - 1 tsp
You may also need a wok (or a non-stick pan), a clean thick kitchen towel to handle the wok, a spatula with sharp thin end to take the appam out of the wok.
Procedure :-
- Soak the ingridients from 1 to 4 together for 4 hours.
- Adding water, grind it to a smooth paste of dosa batter consistency.
- Mix in the required salt
- Let it ferment for 6 to 8 hours (if your geographical location slows down the fermentation process, then add a tbsp of fermented dosa batter if you have in stock. if not, then don't worry add in a tsp of baking powder before you make appams but let the batter stand for 8 hrs)
- Grease the wok, heat it, pour in 1 1/2 laddle of batter, using the kitchen towel lift the wok and rotate it clockwise & anti clockwise so that the batter spreads all over and gives a thin end & a thick centre.
- Cover it with a lid and let it cook for a minute or two. Check it by lifting the lid. The centre of the appam will be thick and spongy. When the centre portion is cooked, remove it with a spatula.
- Hot vellai appam (white appam) is ready. Vegetable stew, kadala curry, Green Peas curry are good accompaniments for this dish.
