Appam (Rice and coconut milk pancakes). Add a little bit of luxury to your brunch with fluffy rice pancakes. Made with rice and coconut milk, and fermented overnight, these classic pancakes have a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture and mouthwatering flavor. Serve with your favorite curry or stew for a satisfying weekend brunch.
Creating an elaborate brunch is the best way to start a relaxing weekend. Agree? To be honest, it’s something I want to incorporate into my weekend routine. So, what’s better way to enjoy good food with your loved ones than with this classic savory pancake recipe?
Appam also called vellayappam is a classic much loved breakfast dish from Kerala, and it’s an easier version of these laced pancakes. A simple batter made with rice and coconut is fermented overnight to create these beautiful pancakes with all those pretty holes. Don’t they look beautiful?
Traditionally, these pancakes are made with raw rice. However, long grain, short grain or basmati rice works beautiful in this recipe. You’ll need to soak the rice for at least 8 hours so you can grind it into a smooth paste. Another important element of this beautiful dish is coconut. Although grated coconut is used in the traditional recipe, I’ve decided to add coconut milk to make the process much easier.
To make the batter, grind rice with coconut milk and a little water. Do this in batches depending on the size of your food processor. Make sure the batter is smooth. To make soft appam, you’ll also need to grind a little cooked rice and add it to the batter.
Now, add in yeast mixture (combo of yeast, sugar and warm water) and give it a good stir. Place batter in a warm spot in your kitchen. Leave it to ferment overnight. Once fermented, season with salt, and you can start cooking pancakes.
Pour a little batter onto a heated crepe pan or frying pan. When bubbles start to appear on the pancakes, cover with a lid and wait until it’s cooked. The pretty holes in the pancake indicate that the batter is perfectly fermented.
And don’t forget to serve them with your favorite curry and ishtoo or stew.
Serving suggestions:
- Vegetable Ishtoo or Stew
- Fish Moilee (Fish Stew)
- Your favorite curry
How long can you keep appam batter?
Once fermented, I usually store the batter in the refrigerator for about 2 days. Before you make pancakes, place it on the kitchen counter for about 10 minutes and let it come to room temperature.
How do you ferment the batter in winter?
To ferment batter in winter, place it in the oven with the oven light on. The heat from light will activate yeast.
More classic breakfast recipes:
- Kerala Idiyappam Recipe| Nool Puttu or Sevai with Rice Flour
- Puttu
- Beetroot Idiyappam | Nool Puttu or Sevai with Beetroot
- Palappam | Kerala Rice Crepes
- Savory Paniyaram | Kuzhi Paniyaram | Rice and Lentil Dumplings
- Aloo Paratha | Flatbreads Stuffed with Mashed Potatoes
- Besan Dhokla | Steamed Gram Flour Cake
- Besan Chilla | Besan Cheela | Chickpea Pancakes
- Vermicelli Upma | Semiya Upma
These classic savory breakfast pancakes are made with rice and coconut milk and fermented overnight for soft, fluffy texture You have to start the recipe a day ahead.Soak rice for 5-6 hours. Drain. Set aside. Before you grind rice for the batter, prepare yeast mixture. Place yeast, sugar and warm water in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Let it stand for 5-10 minutes or until nice and bubbly. Appam batter: Divide coconut milk into three equal portions. Set aside.Place half of rice, 1 part of coconut milk and 1/4 cup water in a food processor. Grind to a smooth batter. Transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining rice, 1 part of coconut milk and 1/4 cup water to the food processor. Grind to a smooth batter. Transfer to the bowl. Place cooked rice, remaining coconut milk and 1/4 cup water in the food processor. Grind until smooth. Add to the batter in the bowl.Pour in yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Cover and let it rest for 8-12 hours or overnight.Season fermented batter with salt. Stir to combine. Set aside. Cook pancakes: Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick frying pan or crepe pan over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter on to the center of the pan. Cook for 1 minute or until bubbles start to appear on surface. Cover with a lid. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes or until cooked through. Do not flip the pancake. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining mixture, stirring the mixture between batches.Serve with traditional vegetable or chicken stew, or your favorite curry. - Once fermented, you can store the batter in refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring the batter to room temperature (about 10 minutes) before cooking pancakes.Appam | Rice and Coconut Milk Pancakes | Video
Ingredients
Yeast mixture:
Batter:
Instructions
Yeast mixture:
Notes
Nutrition Information
Yield
7
Serving Size
1
Amount Per Serving
Calories 215Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 0mgSodium 93mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 3g
Check out more classic breakfast recipes:
Idiyappam, the popular South Indian breakfast made with just two ingredients. These are unique and delicious!
Thanks for the great recipe, especially the easy instructions! Love your website!
I would love to try your recipe, but can I use thai glutenous rice with this recipe because I have lots of it in the pantry.
You can use glutinous rice but the pancakes will get a sticky texture. Hope that helps!