Recipe for making Kerala Appam – Kerala Palappam made with soaked and ground rice and coconut milk. These lacey appams make a delicious breakfast. Also called as Vellappam or Lace Hoppers.
Vinodh’s sister Shreevidhya messaged me one day after having been to a dinner at her family’s. Nivashini, who hosted the dinner had served Kerala style appams and Shreevidhya messaged me that the appams were out of this world. I immediately contacted Nivashini and she was so sweet to share the recipe for us. She learnt this recipe during one of her vacations in Kerala from a chef at a resort.
The appam batter is so easy to make. The fluffy, lacey appams with crisp edges are nothing but outstanding. I am sure this recipe will become a regular at your homes. Do give it a try!
The batter
Wash and soak the raw rice in water overnite (around 8 hours). I have used sona masuri variety of rice today for this recipe. Drain the rice and add it to the wet grinder along with a cup of water. I have an ultra wet grinder and I recommend the same.
When the rice is ground to a fine rava / semolina like texture, stop the grinder. Remove a cup of batter to a bowl. Add a cup of water to it. We will be doing a porridge with it and add it back to the batter. (we will be making a kanji).
Make Porridge and add to the batter
Heat the removed batter on a medium flame until it slightly thickens to a porridge (kanji). Add the kanji to the batter sitting in the wet grinder. Let it grind for another 10-15 minutes.
Activate the yeast
In the mean time, take a cup and add in the yeast along with sugar and half a cup of barely warm water. Let it foam up for five minutes. Do not add really hot water as hot water will kill the yeast. The water needs to be just warm to the touch. Set aside.
You can buy active dry yeast in amazon. Store the yeast in the freezer and it lasts for a long time up-to an year fresh in the freezer.
Instant Active Dry Yeast https://amzn.to/3uJ1ELN
Make thick coconut milk
Take a mixie jar and run half a cup of fresh shredded coconut along with 1.5 cups of water for 2 minutes. Strain on a colander. You will get thick coconut milk. Set aside.
Add in the yeast mixture, thick coconut milk and the salt to the wet grinder.
Grind the batter in the wet grinder till the mixture is very smooth.
Ferment the batter
I cover the batter with a cling wrap so the batter does not foam up and over flow. Make small holes with a knife and let the batter ferment for 8 hours. The batter would have foamed up and smell very yeasty.
Now comes the fun time. Lets make appam.
The appam batter consistency should be thin. Little thinner than the dosa batter consistency. Add water if necessary to adjust the consistency of appam batter.
Heat appam kadai or appa chatti until hot. Ladle some batter into the kadai in the middle. Slowly rotate the pan to make the appam batter adhere to all over the sides of the pan. Use your hands to rotate the pan in a circular motion and guide the batter to stick to all over the sides.
Cover with a lid and let it cook for a minute on medium flame. Appam cooks only on one side. Appam is done when the sides are brown. Remove the appam slowly with the help of a spatula.
I have used a Hawkins Futura Non-Stick Appachatty for making the appams today.
Appam Pan https://amzn.to/3nZlpL6
Serve
Serve appam with sweet coconut milk and stew and it makes for a fantastic breakfast or dinner.
Here is the recipe for Sweet Coconut Milk.
Here is the recipe for Vegetable Stew
Here is the recipe for  Kerala Chicken Stew, Chicken IshtuÂ
Kerala Appam – Kerala Palappam Recipe
Recipe for making Kerala Appam – Kerala Palappam made with soaked and ground rice and coconut milk. These lacey appams make for a delicious breakfast. Also called as Vellappam or Lace Hoppers.
- Total Time: 24 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 20 appams 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw rice (like sona masuri)
- 1/2 cup fresh shredded coconut
- 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Making batter for Kerala Appam / Palappam
- Wash and soak the raw rice in water overnite (around 8 hours). Drain the rice and add it to the wet grinder along with a cup of water.
- When the rice is ground to a fine rava / semolina like texture, stop the grinder. Remove a cup of batter to a bowl. Add a cup of water to it. Heat the removed batter on a medium flame until it slightly thickens to a porridge (kanji). Add the kanji to the batter and let it grind for another 10-15 minutes.
- In the mean time, take a cup and add in the yeast along with sugar and half a cup of barely warm water. Let it foam up for five minutes.
- Take a mixie jar and run half a cup of fresh shredded coconut along with 1.5 cups of water for 2 minutes. Strain on a colander. You will get thick coconut milk. Set aside.
- Add in the yeast mixture, thick coconut milk and the salt to the wet grinder.
- Grind the batter in the wet grinder till the mixture is very smooth.
- Transfer the batter to a big bowl and ferment for 8 hours. Appam batter is ready
To make Kerala Appam / Palappam
- Heat appam kadai or appa chatti until hot. Ladle some batter into the kadai in the middle. Slowly rotate the pan to make the appam batter adhere to all over the sides of the pan. Cover with a lid and let it cook for a minute on medium flame.
Notes
The batter will take around 30-40 minutes in the wet grinder to achieve the desired smooth texture.
The fermented batter can be stored in the refrigerator for upto two days.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: Kerala
Learning to cook Kerala recipes. Tours seems to be user friendly.
It’s been long time since I made vellappam as noone likes it so much. Just the correct recipe I was searching for..thank u
Thank you!
Dear Suguna, I’m going to attempt this for the first time. Paal apam making is like rocket science for me (failed so many times
Any advise if I were to alternate the dry yeast with wet yeast? What amount shall I add?
Thank you 💓
Never tried with fresh yeast. So not able to comment.
Hi,
Could one use rice ravaa (idli ravaa) instead? If yes, would i still need to do the soaking and further grinding steps?
Never tried with rava.
Really , wonderful I made the appams with stew veg , it was very yummy 🤤 and tasty , all my maharashtrian friends loved it , and taken ur recipe
Thank you so much. Glad your friends and your family enjoyed the Kerala Appam.
Very nice recipe. Will Appams be of same taste if balance batter stored in refrigerator?
Yes you can store in fridge and use it within a couple of days. It will be a little sour but perfectly good.
Hi Suguna
Can i use basmati rice?
Hi Suguna
Can i use basmati rice?
The appam batter turned out fine but the sides of the appam still remained white not brown like the ones i see in the shops. I used the non stick appam pot. Did I miss out something? My family likes it brown n crispy
Make the batter little thin and cook a minute longer for crispy edges.
the coconut milk u got after grinding half a coconut,how much cups did u get????
This is the first time ever I’m leaving a review but I’ve tried most of your recipes and a great fan … This appam turned out to be the best appam ever !
You rock !
Thank you so much. Glad you liked the Kerala style appam. Happy cooking.
Hi Kannamma
Thank you for the prompt and detailed explanation. Will give it a try soon. Look forward to making good appams.
Best regards
Audrey
Hi Kannamma
Your palappam looks great. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I am planning to try it out soon. How many cups of thick coconut milk (store-bought) should I add to the batter?
If adding store bought coconut milk, add it after the fermentation just before making appams. For the whole batter 200ml will suffice as store bought milk is very thick. You might need to dilute the batter with water to get the desired consistency.
Thanks, Kannamma for the explanation.
The desired consistency of the diluted store-bought coconut milk should be medium thick?
On a different note, where I live, we use standard measuring cups, teaspoon and tablespoon. I have tried a few other Palappam recipes but somehow they did not work out. Suspect it could be due to different measuring tools used. Hence, appreciate if you could confirm whether the measurement below converted to gram/ml is correct.
Recipe
Batter
2 cups raw rice (400g)
1 cup water (250ml)
Kanji
1 cup batter (236g)
1 cup water (250ml)
Yeast
¾ tsp yeast (4g)
2 tablespoon sugar (13g)
½ cup water (125ml)
1.5 tsp salt (7g)
Store-bought coconut milk (200ml) – add after fermentation before making the Appam
Look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.
Hi Audrey,
The measurements I have used is standard.
1 cup is approximately 240 ml,
1 tablespoon is 15 ml
and 1 teaspoon is 5 ml.
Regarding the coconut milk, You can dilute the coconut milk with water. The consistency can be thin.
Your measurements looks good. Perfect and precise.
Just one thing. The final batter consistency should be like that of lets say a crepe batter.
If you are in doubt, do not add all the water required while making the batter. You can always adjust the consistency of the batter just before making appams. The batter should be able to freely flow when you tilt the appam pan. If it doesnt, then dilute the batter with water (be cautious not to make it very runny) till you get the correct appam consistency.
I wish you the very best and hope you are able to get good appams.
Do keep me posted.
Suguna
HI Kannamma
I have got a query. Do I have to cool the thicken kanji before adding it to the batter in the wet grinder for further grinding?
Hi Audrey, No need to cool the kanji.
Noted. Thank you, Kannamma. Will there be an issue if the batter is fermented more than 8 hours?
Hi Audrey. A couple of hours should not matter. More than that will just mean that the batter will start to sour more.
This is a fantastic recipe!!! Made this yesterday and Appams turned out delicious!! Best Appam’s ever!
Thank you very much!
Thank you Kannama. For explaining in details it’s always soon simple to follow your recipes:)
Hi.. The way you explained is so clear. Thank you so much. It’s so helpful. I have 3 doubts.
1.Can we use idly rice for Kerala style appams?.
2. Normal tamilnadu style appams also use coconut milk , Kerala style also use coconut milk . what’s the difference ?
3. Can we use our idly batter with little coconut milk and do these appams ?
Useful recipe with good tips , but, why do you call it Kerala appam when this is very famous among many communities in Southeast Asia , especially the Thamizhar? THANKYOU for sharing.
Hi Divya,
Usually, yeast is not added by the tamil community.
Kerala people add yeast or toddy to ferment the batter. Thats the main difference.
hi,,,thanks for your blog ,and keep blogging!
Hi Suguna!
Can instant yeast be used instead of active dry? If yes, how?
Thanks so much. Cant wait to try out your recipe!
Never tried instant yeast. But you can use. Use 75% of qty.
I love south Indian food. Never tried appam so far, will want to try the recipe ASAP.