Many at times I believe that staying in my own comfort zone is the best, and there are times when I have this urge to step out and do something which I have not done before – to get that sense of rediscovering yourself and embrace the fun/challenges on the way. Trying hand, or rather a small step with video recipes came with that thought of doing something that I have not done before. This may sound as an easy task but not for an extremely camera-shy person like me. Editing and mixing the video was a fair challenge, but that was dwarfed in front of the idea of facing and talking in front of the camera. Well being a novice, I know this is far from perfect, and so do leave your constructive comments and feedbacks. Would love to hear from you all!

Moving on with the recipe, Appams (or laced rice pancakes) are very popular in Kerala, especially for breakfast. Made with fermented rice batter and coconut, Appams are usually served with egg curry or stew (mixed vegetables, chicken, or lamb). Traditionally a special cast iron skillet called as appachatti is used to make Appams (my mom has got one which is almost a century old, handed over from my grandma). To make it easy, nowadays you get the toned down and more convenient non-stick skillets, and that’s the one I use regularly now.

You need –

• Raw rice – 1.5 cups
• Freshly grated coconut – ½ cup
• Cooked rice – ½ cup
• Sugar – 4 tablespoons
• Instant yeast – ¼ teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Luke warm water – ½ cup

How to –

Clean and wash the rice in several changes of water. Now soak the rice for about 5 hours.

Sprinkle the yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water along with 4 tablespoons sugar. Stir and let it sit till foamy.

In a blender or wet grinder put the rice, grated coconut and cooked rice. Add about 1 cup water and blend in a smooth batter. Add the yeast and blend again till smooth. Please adjust the water as required as the batter should be watery.

Transfer the batter into a large bowl and add salt to taste. Mix well, cover and let it sit in a warm place for about 4-5 hours to ferment. Once the batter has fermented  it will be light and foamy on top.

Heat a appachatti and pour about a full ladle of the batter and immediately take the skillet and swirl. Now cover and cook for a minute or till the edges are crisp and golden brown.  (Do check my video on how to pour and swirl the appam here)

Remove into a serving plate and repeat the same with the rest of the batter.

Serve warm with chicken/lamb/veg stew or egg curry.