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Kerala Appam – Kerala Palappam Recipe

September 10, 2017 by Suguna Vinodh 34 Comments

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kerala-appam-recipe-1-9
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!
Nivashini-kannamma-cooks-kerala-palappam-recipe

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.
kerala-appam-palappam-recipe-grind

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).
Kerala-palappam-recipe (9)

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.
Kerala-palappam-recipe (10)

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.

Kerala-palappam-recipe (1)

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.
Kerala-palappam-recipe (6)

Add in the yeast mixture, thick coconut milk and the salt to the wet grinder.
Kerala-palappam-recipe (11)

Grind the batter in the wet grinder till the mixture is very smooth.
Kerala-palappam-recipe (8)

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.
kerala-appam-palappam-recipe-ferment

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.
Tamilnadu-style-easy-Appam-Recipe-Without-Yeast-using-rice-coconut-Appam-mavu-batter-palappam-hoppers-consistency

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.
Kerala-palappam-recipe (12)

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.
Kerala-palappam-recipe (7)

I have used a Hawkins Futura Non-Stick Appachatty for making the appams today.

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 Ishtu 
kerala-appam-recipe-1-7

Print
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kerala-appam-recipe-1-6

Kerala Appam – Kerala Palappam Recipe


★★★★★

4.6 from 9 reviews

  • Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
  • Prep Time: 24 hours
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 24 hours 20 mins
  • Yield: 20 appams 1x
Print Recipe
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Description

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.


Scale

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Add in the yeast mixture, thick coconut milk and the salt to the wet grinder.
  6. Grind the batter in the wet grinder till the mixture is very smooth.
  7. Transfer the batter to a big bowl and ferment for 8 hours. Appam batter is ready

To make Kerala Appam / Palappam

  1. 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.

  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: Kerala

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Suguna Vinodh

I'm Suguna Vinodh aka Kannamma. I love south Indian food and I am passionate about baking. My Favorite things include my Wusthof knife, Coffee, Ilayaraja, Tamil and beaches. I love Jacques Pepin and Julia Child.

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Comments

  1. Priya says

    November 2, 2020 at 10:40 am

    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 💓

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      November 10, 2020 at 6:25 pm

      Never tried with fresh yeast. So not able to comment.

      Reply
  2. Tanuja says

    July 7, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    Hi,

    Could one use rice ravaa (idli ravaa) instead? If yes, would i still need to do the soaking and further grinding steps?

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      July 7, 2020 at 9:42 pm

      Never tried with rava.

      Reply
  3. Vivek shenoy says

    June 28, 2020 at 1:10 am

    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

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      June 28, 2020 at 4:54 am

      Thank you so much. Glad your friends and your family enjoyed the Kerala Appam.

      Reply
  4. Ashok says

    June 21, 2020 at 2:30 am

    Very nice recipe. Will Appams be of same taste if balance batter stored in refrigerator?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      June 21, 2020 at 2:34 am

      Yes you can store in fridge and use it within a couple of days. It will be a little sour but perfectly good.

      Reply
  5. S. RAJESWARI says

    December 11, 2019 at 2:40 am

    Hi Suguna
    Can i use basmati rice?

    Reply
  6. Raji says

    December 11, 2019 at 1:53 am

    Hi Suguna
    Can i use basmati rice?

    Reply
  7. Mary says

    November 11, 2019 at 8:32 pm

    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

    ★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      November 16, 2019 at 11:53 am

      Make the batter little thin and cook a minute longer for crispy edges.

      Reply
  8. liz says

    May 12, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    the coconut milk u got after grinding half a coconut,how much cups did u get????

    Reply
    • Vani says

      June 9, 2020 at 12:04 am

      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 !

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Suguna Vinodh says

        June 9, 2020 at 12:33 am

        Thank you so much. Glad you liked the Kerala style appam. Happy cooking.

        Reply
  9. Audrey says

    April 30, 2019 at 11:44 pm

    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

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Audrey says

    April 28, 2019 at 10:34 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      April 29, 2019 at 1:38 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Audrey says

        April 30, 2019 at 12:08 am

        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.

        ★★★★★

        Reply
        • Suguna Vinodh says

          April 30, 2019 at 11:05 pm

          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

          Reply
    • Audrey says

      May 2, 2019 at 12:52 am

      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?

      Reply
      • Suguna Vinodh says

        May 2, 2019 at 1:58 pm

        Hi Audrey, No need to cool the kanji.

        Reply
        • Audrey says

          May 4, 2019 at 12:28 am

          Noted. Thank you, Kannamma. Will there be an issue if the batter is fermented more than 8 hours?

          Reply
          • Suguna Vinodh says

            May 4, 2019 at 7:06 pm

            Hi Audrey. A couple of hours should not matter. More than that will just mean that the batter will start to sour more.

  11. Susan says

    April 16, 2019 at 3:35 am

    This is a fantastic recipe!!! Made this yesterday and Appams turned out delicious!! Best Appam’s ever!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      April 17, 2019 at 5:43 pm

      Thank you very much!

      Reply
  12. Lorraine says

    December 12, 2018 at 10:19 am

    Thank you Kannama. For explaining in details it’s always soon simple to follow your recipes:)

    Reply
  13. Harini says

    July 31, 2018 at 7:39 pm

    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 ?

    ★★★★

    Reply
  14. divya says

    May 8, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    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.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Suguna Vinodh says

      May 10, 2018 at 12:38 am

      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.

      Reply
  15. nithya estates says

    September 26, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    hi,,,thanks for your blog ,and keep blogging!

    Reply
    • RCMathew says

      April 30, 2020 at 1:03 pm

      Hi Suguna!

      Can instant yeast be used instead of active dry? If yes, how?

      Thanks so much. Cant wait to try out your recipe!

      Reply
      • Suguna Vinodh says

        May 1, 2020 at 4:05 pm

        Never tried instant yeast. But you can use. Use 75% of qty.

        Reply
  16. Deepa Sharma says

    September 13, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    I love south Indian food. Never tried appam so far, will want to try the recipe ASAP.

    ★★★★

    Reply

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I’m Suguna, a former financial analyst, now a full-time food blogger. Welcome to my space. I share recipes gathered from my friends and family here. I am passionate about South Indian food. I crazy love knives. A sharp knife is a girls best friend. Hope you like the recipes here. Happy Cooking. Read more.....

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