{"id":3278,"date":"2012-10-10T12:14:24","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T19:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayabugs.com\/blog\/?p=3278"},"modified":"2014-04-02T17:01:51","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T00:01:51","slug":"appam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayabugs.com\/blog\/appam\/","title":{"rendered":"Appam"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Appam<\/a><\/p>\n

Update 5\/3\/13: Last time we were in India my mother in law got us appam pans, so now I can make appams shaped like a bowl. I updated the recipe just a little.\u00a0I also finally made ulli theeyal<\/a> using fresh pearl onions and it was so good!<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m still trying to get the hang of when it is warm enough in our kitchen to ferment batter. I’ve been playing around with sourdough starter and realized I may have been overheating it by putting it on a yogurt maker! So this last time I made appam, I just left it on the counter and it worked just fine, but it was a warm day…<\/p>\n

Appams are rice and coconut crepes from Kerala in the southern part of India. They taste amazing: light and spongy and soak up whatever gravy or curry you serve with them. They go really well with vegetable coconut stew and avial (another kind of coconuty vegetable dish), but today we had them with ulli theeyal. The 2nd time I made appam they came out really nice. I used this recipe<\/a>. Today I just made a half batch for me and Tejas. I know they seem more like food to serve to dinner guests, but it is such a pain to make a lot of them and keep them nice and soft for serving, so why not just make a few for us :-)? Of course, if you want enough for 4, just double the recipe.<\/p>\n

We don’t have an appam pan<\/a>\u00a0\"\"which is shaped kinda like a bowl and gives the appams the thicker middle, so I just used a dosa pan (like a non-stick griddle<\/a>\"\"). While they didn’t come out nice and round, they did come out tasty! I really don’t think I can get any bread round though, I can’t roll roti round either \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

I like to have everything prepped so we can all eat together, where as in a restaurant they bring out each appam fresh individually. The best way I found to do this is to lay each cooked appam in a single layer in a barely warm oven and then transfer them to a heated casserole dish\u00a0for serving. If you put them in the casserole dish right away they have a tendency to stick together.<\/p>\n

The only place in Los Angeles that I know of to get appams out is at a place called Mayura on Venice blvd. It is sooo good and best with Kerala Special Avial. If you’re not vegetarian, the Kerala Special Chicken Curry is the appam option.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I didn’t like the ulli theeyal enough to post the recipe because I used frozen pearl onions instead of fresh shallots. The first time I made it, I swear the frozen pearl onions worked (Tejas liked it too and had recently asked why I hadn’t made it again!). But this time, I don’t know, they just weren’t flavorful enough. The reason I used pearl onions is because on\u00a0my first trip to Bangalore we ate at this amazing Kerala tali place where you eat all these yummy dishes on a banana leaf with appams. I seemed to remember a dish with pearl onions that was so good so last year I tried to find something resembling it online. The only thing I could find that came close was ulli theeyal which is a browned coconut curry with sliced shallots. But since I was set on whole little onions, I tried it this way. Anyways, next time I will use fresh shallots.<\/p>\n

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1 cup uncooked rice
\n1\/4 + 1\/8 cup \u00a0cooked rice
\n1\/2 cup coconut milk
\n1\/4 cup warm water
\n1 teaspoon sugar
\n1\/2 teaspoon yeast
\nCoconut milk
\nSugar
\nSalt<\/p>\n

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  1. The night before you want to make appam, soak uncooked rice in water.<\/li>\n
  2. Cook rice if you don’t have any leftover.<\/li>\n
  3. In the morning, grind the uncooked rice, cooked rice, and 1\/2 cup coconut milk until super smooth using a grinder or food processor. The batter will be very thick.<\/li>\n
  4. Meanwhile, in a little bowl, add the sugar and yeast to the 1\/4 cup warm water. Let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast starts to foam on top. This step is proofing the yeast to make sure it is still active.<\/li>\n
  5. Pour the batter into a glass tupperware that has enough room for the batter to rise.<\/li>\n
  6. Stir in the yeast mixture.<\/li>\n
  7. Set in a warm place for 6-8 hours. If it warm enough in the kitchen, the counter will work. When it is cold, I have used a yogurt maker. The yogurt maker<\/a>\"\"\u00a0with a couple of towels to keep it from getting too hot works well.<\/li>\n
  8. The batter will have thinned out some, but if you need to, add more coconut milk to get the batter to a thin pancake batter consistency. I needed just a little.<\/li>\n
  9. Add sugar and salt to taste.<\/li>\n
  10. Let sit again for another 30 minutes. It will froth up again.<\/li>\n
  11. Heat an appam pan<\/a>\u00a0if you have one or another non-stick pan to medium low. Add a ladle of batter and swirl the batter around.<\/li>\n
  12. Cover the appam with a lid or foil in a dome shape to kind of steam the appam. Once the edges start to curl up and the top looks cooked enough (dry sorta), remove from heat and lay in an individual layer on a cookie sheet in a barely warm oven (I warmed the oven, then turned it off and left it open a little).<\/li>\n
  13. Meanwhile heat up a covered casserole\u00a0dish by adding a wet towel or paper towel and microwave for 2 minutes. Wipe out any moisture accumulated.<\/li>\n
  14. Once you’re done with all of the batter, put the appams in the heated casserole dish for serving.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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