Appam (Fermented Rice Pancake)

Appam, a fermented rice pancake, is a speciality of the South Indian coastal state of Kerala. It is especially popular among the Christian communities of that state. Appam are often served along with a coconut-flavoured vegetable stew. It is also very popular in Sri Lanka, where it is known as "appa" (or "hopper") and often served with an added egg.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups uncooked white rice
- 1½ cups fresh grated coconut
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons white rice, cooked
- water for soaking rice, and 2 to 2½ cups for grinding
- ½ teaspoon yeast or kefir, to start the ferment (optional)
Steps
- Soak raw rice in water.
- Grind soaked rice until about ¼ ground.
- Add grated coconut and a little water. Continue grinding.
- Add sugar, cooked rice and yeast or kefir. Grind until smooth. Batter should be thinner than pancake batter.
- Transfer to wide open container. Rise overnight.
- Next morning, add salt. Refrigerate batter until use.
- Use a tava or small bowl-shaped pan, non-stick or with a little oil (coconut or other refined) or ghee.
- Pour a full serving spoon of batter into middle of pan. Swirl once so a little batter sticks to sides.
- Cover with hot lid. Remove appam with spatula after 2–3 min, when slightly browned around edges. It should be round, thick in center, thin and lacy at edges.
Notes from the original
- The batter should ferment overnight without any added starter, but often won't. Yeast (or better still, kefir) can be added to help it ferment.
- The grinding can be done in a blender. Make sure that there is enough liquid so that it all swirls around in the blender, mixing properly.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Appam (Fermented Rice Pancake)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Appam served with Coconut Milk in Tamil Nadu.JPG by KARTY JazZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






