I grow up eating lots of Kerala based breakfast/tiffin items since my native is close to the Kerala border. I can never survive without puttu and appams. It is my most comfort food and everybody at home loves it. Today's recipe Kallappam is traditionally made with Kallu(toddy) and since it is not widely available these days, we are using yeast to help with the fermentation. For appam's my mom-in-law makes homemade kallu using coconut water and sugar(check notes). We can use it for fermentation if you couldn't source yeast. These kallappams are really spongy, taste delicious with the coconut, cumin and onion flavour. If you love Kerala based tiffin items, then do check the following recipes as well.
- NoolPuttu(Idiyappam)
- Ethakka Appam(Pazham Pori)
Ingredients:For the batter:
Raw Rice - 2 Cups
Cooked Rice(Saadham/choru) - 1 Cup
Grated Coconut - 3/4 Cup
For the Yeast activation:
Yeast - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tblsp
Warm Water - 1/4 Cup
Ingredients needed while making kallappam:
Grated Coconut - 1/4 Cup
Shallots/Small onion - 2
Jeera - 1/2 tspSalt - as required
Method:
1. Wash and soak the rice for 4 to 5 hours. Then drain the water and transfer it to a blender. Roughly grind it once. Now, along with this add the cooked rice and the grated coconut.
2. Grind everything to a very smooth batter by adding little water. The consistency of the batter should not be watery, so just add the required water for grinding. To activate the yeast, mix the yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl. Allow it to rest for 5 to 10 mins. You can see froth/tiny bubbles on the top and the yeast is ready to be used.
3. Mix the yeast with the ground batter. Transfer it to a large container and allow it to ferment for 8 hours. The fermented batter will be doubled in size and it will be frothy.
4. Just before making the kallapam, grind 1/4 cup coconut, jeera and shallots in a mixie jar to a fine paste. Mix this with the fermented batter.
5. Add required salt and mix everything really well. If the batter is too thick, dilute it with little water or coconut milk. The batter should be in a dosa batter consistency. Heat dosa pan and pour a ladle full of batter. The batter will spread by itself and it is not required to spread like our regular dosa. Flip and cook the other side as well until golden brown.
The soft and spongy Kallappam can be served with vegetable kurma or any meat curry based on your preference. I served it with spicy mutton and mushroom gravy.
Points to remember:
- Traditionally, they use Kallu(toddy) for making this appam. Since it is not widely available we are using yeast. If you get that, then you can completely skip the yeast and add 1/2 cup of toddy.
- Alternatively, we can make kallu using coconut water or karikku(Tender coconut) water. Take a cup of coconut water and mix a tablespoon of sugar in it. Leave it undisturbed for 24 hours. Then this coconut wine can be used for fermentation by replacing the yeast.
- I used ponni raw rice for making this appam. I have tried it with Idli rice as well and it tastes equally good.
- While grinding the batter you can replace the grated coconut with 1/2 cup of thick coconut milk as well.
- Instant yeast, active dry yeast or fresh yeast can be used. Make sure to use good quality fresh yeast.
- Since it is winter for us it took 8 hours to ferment. I just left it on the counter. If it is very cold, you can leave it in the oven with the oven light on. But during summer it only takes 4 to 5 hours.
- The mentioned quantity can make around 15 kallappams.
Happy's Cook - Divya
very interesting recipe, would love to give this a try. That accompanying curry looks very tempting
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