Appam (also known as “palappam”) are tasty, lacy and fluffy pancakes or hoppers from the Kerala cuisine that are made from ground, fermented rice and coconut batter. Thin and crispy around the edges with soft fluffy center appam taste delicious when paired with vegetable stew for a hearty vegetarian breakfast. They also just so happen to be gluten-free and vegan.
About Appam Recipe
Appam is one of our favorite breakfast dishes, so I make them on the weekends at least once a month. The preparation is similar to making Dosa Batter, and needs some prep work beforehand.
Traditionally, appam are fermented with a local alcoholic drink known as toddy – which is a drink made from palm flower or coconut flower.
Toddy, which is made from palm flower or coconut flower, is also known as “kallu” in Tamil and Malayalam or “tadi” in Hindi.
Since toddy is not readily available everywhere, I make these appam with yeast. Both dry active yeast and instant yeast works as a good fermenting agent and is easy to find the world over. This, however, does not mean that you cannot make appams without yeast.
Please note that there will be some flavor differences between appam made with toddy versus those made with yeast.
Appam can be made both dry active yeast or instant yeast (rapid rise yeast). I use either depending on what is there on hand. With instant yeast the fermentation time is very less as compared to fermentation with dry active yeast.
Table of Contents
In this post I share both the methods of making palappam with these two types of yeast. The instant yeast is directly added to the batter. If using dry active yeast activate it in lukewarm water and then add it to the batter later.
To make these appam, I opted to add fresh grated coconut while grinding the batter instead of coconut milk. You can use coconut milk instead of grated coconut – about 1 cup of thick coconut milk will suffice.
Appams are served with vegetable stew, kadala curry (chickpea curry), potato stew, vegetable korma, coconut chutney or coconut milk sweetened with jaggery.
To make my favorite sweet coconut milk for pairing with palappam, the coconut milk is sweetened with jaggery and flavored with cardamom powder.
Pour the desired amount of coconut milk you wish to sweeten into a cup. Add powdered jaggery to taste, along with a bit of cardamom powder. Stir very well until the jaggery is dissolved. Enjoy!
How to Make Appam Recipe
Make Palappam Batter
1. First rinse 1.5 cups regular white rice (like sona masuri, parmal, surti kolam, or ponni rice) in water a few times. Then soak the rice with 2 cups of water in a bowl for 4 to 5 hours. While soaking cover with a lid.
You can use half-half of regular raw rice and parboiled rice. Here I have used sona masuri rice.
2. Drain all the water and discard it. Add the drained, soaked rice to blender or grinder jar. Also add ½ cup grated fresh coconut, ¼ cup poha (flattened rice), ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons sugar.
Instead of flattened rice (poha or aval), you can use cooked or steamed rice or puffed rice (murmura).
You could opt to soak the aval or poha with the rice or separately for 30 minutes or add them to the blender after rinsing with water.
3. Add ¾ cup water (or as needed) and blend or grind the ingredients to a smooth and fine flowing batter.
If in case, the batter looks thin, add a few tablespoons of rice flour to thicken it slightly.
Leaven the Batter
Transfer the batter in a medium to large mixing bowl. Now you have two options when it comes to yeast. I have made this recipe many time with both the types of yeast.
With Instant yeast, the recipe just gets made quicker as the leavening and fermenting time reduces. I have included instructions for both.
4a. If using Dry Active yeast
Mix ½ teaspoon dry active yeast first in 1 to 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Add this yeast solution to the batter and mix well. Cover and allow to ferment for 8 to 12 hours, depending on the temperature conditions. The batter will rise and double up the next day.
4b. If using Instant Yeast
Add ½ teaspoon Instant yeast (rapid rising yeast). I have used instant yeast here.
5. Mix thoroughly so that the fine yeast granules dissolves in the batter. Cover and set aside to ferment for 1 to 2 hours. You can also use the instant pot to ferment the batter.
6. After leavening with instant yeast, this is how the batter should look. It will double in volume and you will see air-pockets everywhere.
I had to leaven the batter for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes as it was a warm climate this day. A cooler weather will take more time.
7. A well-fermented batter will have many tiny air-pockets.
Make Appam
8. Heat an appam pan or a seasoned kadai/wok with handles. Sprinkle about ½ teaspoon oil on the pan and spread it all over on the pan. If using nonstick kadai, then skip smearing the oil.
The appam pan or appachatti works best as you get soft fluffy texture in the center and crisp texture towards the circumference. Spread a ladle full of the batter (about ¼ to ⅓ cup) into the hot pan.
9. Turn and tilt the pan in circles so as to spread the batter into a round circle.
Regulate the heat as needed. If the pan becomes too hot, the batter cooks faster and you won’t be able to make a neat round batter with thin edges and a soft center. So you can reduce the heat or place the pan on the countertop and then pour the batter.
10. Make a neat round circle of the batter. Keep the heat to medium-low or medium.
11. You can also drizzle a few drops of oil on the sides if you prefer.
12. Cover the pan with lid and let the appam cook for about 2 minutes or until the base becomes nicely light golden and the center firms up and becomes soft and fluffy.
13. Remove and serve appam hot or warm. Repeat with remaining batter to make as may appam as you need. Store any remaining batter in the refrigerator and use within 1 day.
14. Appam goes very well with vegetable stew and sweetened coconut milk. I like to serve them with both! It can also be served with veg korma or potato stew.
Palappam FAQs
Yeast requires a warm environment to thrive, so the room temperature will affect fermentation. If the room is chilly, you’ll need to allow more time for fermenting.
Alternatively, you can create a “proofing box” with your oven – simply place a cake pan or other deep dish on the bottom shelf of your oven. Place the batter on the top shelf, then close the door. This will provide a nice environment for the yeast to do its work! Make sure the oven is switched off.
Salt can affect fermentation, so my recommendation is:
If you live in a warm or hot climate, then add salt before to avoid over fermentation.
If you live in a cool or cold place, then add salt once the batter is fermented.
Oops! Sounds like you added a bit too much water, making the batter too thin. Next time, reduce the amount of water you add when grinding. To fix this batch, try adding rice flour by the tablespoon until you achieve the batter consistency shown in the photos above.
Uh-oh! Sounds like you over-fermented the batter. Try using the batter at an earlier stage, per the photos in the step-by-step instructions above.
I recommend 2 to 3 appam per person.
Appam batter will last in the fridge for 1 day; any longer and it will begin to turn sour.
As you cook the appam, layer each with a sheet of parchment before stacking another on top.
I suggest any short or medium grain variety of rice, but you can also use a longer grain rice like basmati. Just note that longer grain rice will yield a slightly different consistency than medium or short grained.
You can use desiccated coconut, but the flavor will be different than fresh. You can swap in frozen coconut, though!
More South Indian Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast Recipes
Karnataka Recipes
Gluten Free Recipes
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.
Appam Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups regular rice or parboiled or half-half of both types
- 2 cups water – for soaking
- ¼ cup thick poha (aval or flattened rice) or cooked rice or puffed rice
- ½ cup grated fresh coconut
- ¾ cup water or as needed for blending or grinding batter
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast or ¾ teaspoon dry active yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt or add as required
- 2 tablespoons sugar or add as required
Instructions
- Rinse rice in water for a couple of times.
- Soak rice in water for 4 to 5 hours.
- Drain all the water and then add the soaked rice to mixer-grinder or blender jar. Also add the grated coconut, cooked rice or poha (aval or flattened rice), salt and sugar.
- You could opt to soak the aval or poha with the rice or separately for 30 minutes or add them to the blender after rinsing with water.
- Add water and grind all the ingredients to a smooth flowing batter
- Transfer the batter in a medium to large bowl.
- With Instant Yeast: Sprinkle the Instant yeast (or rapid rising yeast) all over the batter. Mix thoroughly and evenly. Cover the bowl and set aside to ferment for 1 to 2 hours until the batter doubles in volume and has plenty of air-pockets.
- With Dry Active Yeast: Take about 1 to 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water in a bowl. Then add the dry active yeast and stir to mix well. Add this yeast solution to the batter and mix thoroughly. Cover and keep aside for fermenting overnight or for 8 to 12 hours or more depending on the temperature conditions. The batter will rise and increase in volume the next day. * Check notes
- Heat a kadai or an appam pan with handles at the sides. Spread some oil on the appam pan with a spoon. If using nonstick pan, then skip smearing the oil.
- Spread a ladle full of the batter (about ⅓ to ¼ cup). Turn and tilt the pan so as to spread the batter to a neat round circle. Keep heat to medium-low or medium. Regulate the heat as needed when cooking.
- Drizzle some oil on the sides if you prefer.
- Cover the pan with a lid and let the appam cook. The base would become nicely light golden with crispy edges.
- Gently remove the cooked appam with a spatula. Make the remaining batches of appam this way. If the pan becomes too hot then reduce the heat so that the batter is easy to spread when you tilt the pan.
- Keep the prepared appams covered with a kitchen towel.
- Serve the appam hot or warm with vegetable stew or coconut milk that has been sweetened with jaggery and flavored with a bit of cardamom powder.
Notes
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Appam Recipe from the archives was first published in April 2014. It has been republished and updated on September 2021.
Can I use Goan red rice in place of regular rice?
yes you can use goan red rice.
pleased to know this allie 🙂 glad you liked the appams. thankyou so much and you are always welcome.
Your recipes are toooooo good and superb
thnakyou so much salman 🙂
Made this with the yeast option and fermented it overnight in the oven at 35 degrees C. The batter consistency is tricky and took a little practice. I added a few drops of water after fermenting and throughout from one appam to another until finally the last appam came out almost as good as the ones I had at the Leela in Kovalam. I found that once the right consistency is achieved, the last step in the Kadai becomes better and easier and the appams more authentic, though I still needed practice in this stage too. I used ghee in the Kadai. I will try using Toddy next time but could do with some advice on how much of it to use?
In summary another excellent recipe from Dassana and the wife stamped her approval by eating a hell of a lot of them. I will add my comments on the stew under that recipe…
yes the batter consistency is unlike a dosa batter and it does take practice. try making with coconut oil. the appams tastes damn good. if using toddy, then skip the yeast altogether. you may need to add less water if using toddy. i guess 3/4 cup toddy would be fine for the overall amount of rice used in this recipe. and thank a lot 🙂
Never thought of using coconut oil, good shout. Will do. Thanks.?
welcome rohit
Hi Dassana,
I have found something called Goan Coconut Vinegar (Toddy). Before I buy it, do you reckon this is the same toddy you refer to in the preamble to the recipe? How and what quantity do you think one should use instead of the yeast?
Thanks,
Rohit.
goan coconut vinegar has a very strong flavor, compared to other vinegars. toddy will be different than vinegar. if its toddy then you can add. but if its vinegar then don’t add.
Can we add store bought coconut milk in the grinding?
sony, yes you can.
Hi Dassana,
Tried this appam recipe today. Turned out well. My daughter’s favorite and she loved it. Thank you. I am sharing your link with friends who requested the recipe…..thanks again.
Devi
welcome sakunthala ji. glad to know this. thanks for sharing positive feedback and also for sharing recipe link.
Hi Dassana..
I m trying your appam recipe tonight and i have a query. Can i by any chance use the packaged grated coconut. Its because i don’t have any fresh coconut in hand. Would the final result look/taste any different? Thanks in advance..
by packaged coconut, you mean frozen or desiccated coconut. frozen coconut you can use. but just make sure its within its shelf period and not close to getting rancid. avoid using desiccated coconut. as the final taste will be different than the appams made with fresh coconut.
if i going to take 1kg rice for making appam , so how much quantity off coconut and boild rice and yeast are required?
priya, you will have to check the measurements in google and convert them to kg.
Very nicce recipe.
thanks priti
Hi! Thank you very much for the awesome recipe! I hadn’t made appams since ages and forgot the proportions that I used to use; I tried your recipe and since then have made it three times; each time it has come out superb! My husband and my children thoroughly enjoyed them! God bless you for your clear and thoughtful instructions! Keep up the good work!
thanks rebecca for sharing positive feedback on appam and for your blessings. glad to know that you all liked appams.
What is dry active yeast?
And
what is the meaning of ‘proof the yeast’ separately?
What is yeast proofed solution?
Is yeast = curd ?
I know 2 types of curd, one is fresh curd ( Taza Dahi), a bit sweet in taste, and second one is sour curd ( Khatta Dahi) , this one is a bit old or Basi Dahi.
Kindly help me on my above query.
Warm regards,
Shivam
hi shivam, yeast are unicellular micro organisms. some strains of yeast are beneficial and used in the fermentation & leavening of food like bread, wine and beer. dry active yeast are yeast cells which have been dried and sold commercially. dry active yeast is used for leavening of bread. a yeast proofed solution is a mixture of yeast, warm water & sugar, which activates the dry yeast. they grow and multiply as a result the solution froths and bubbles up. this method is called as proofing.
yeast is not curd or dahi. however in some indian recipes dahi or curd is also used for leavening. here the leavening happens due to the presence of beneficial bacteria in the curd.
Hi,
Thanks for your response.
1) Can we use Khatta Dahi (Khatta Curd) instead of yeast for the fermentation (or leavening) process overnight?
2) From where we get yeast? As I enquired in my city, generally yeast are used by daily needs factory, who have making bread and pav etc. And yeast is sold in quantity, so from where we get one teaspoon yeast?
Also people told me that if we put the yeast in freeze ( refrigerator) it will have bad and strong smell which will spread in other items which we put in freeze using in home.
3) Any suggestive brand/packet of yeast, and quantity which will available in retail market, which we can purchase easily?
4) Which is the ideal shop where we probably get yeast, is it daily needs shop?
5) Can we make yeast in home? Which we can use in this Appam Recipe.
I love appam very much. I used to eat this in one of the pune’s hotel, cituated near nal stop. But this dish is not available easily in all other hotels. And I was left the pune city too. So know finally I decided to learn this dish and will cook in home everyday :-).
Your help will be much appreciated for my above queries. You are doing a Nobel work to help us.
Love and Respect,
Shivam
welcome shivam. before i reply to your queries, you can have a look at this recipe of appam made without yeast – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/appam-recipe-no-yeast-appam/
1. in appam curd is not added. appam has a nice faint sweet taste coming from the coconut. curd will change the taste.
2. dry active yeast is sold in most metro cities. you will easily get in the local shops too. the yeast sold by bakeries is fresh yeast. if you are a regular customer then you they may give you some. and fresh yeast has to be stored in the freezer and used quickly as possible in a few weeks. dry active yeast or instant yeast can be stored for many months. usually commercially sold fresh yeast is well packed, so there is no smell that will spread on the other stuff. you can also store it in a box. if the yeast spoils then there will be rotten smell in the fridge.
3. from the indian brands i have used, muksha and blue bird are fine. mauripan/gloripan and red star is good.
4. you will get yeast in any super market. in metro cities the daily needs shop will have yeast.
5. you cannot manufacture yeast at home, but there is an indian technique that draws wild yeast from the air. this method is called as making khameer and is used for the preparation of bhatura or naan where yeast is not added. a reader has suggested that coconut water + a bit of sugar can be fermented (kept for some hours) and then added to the ground rice. this way there is no need to add yeast.
The Appams came out great. I used the “proof the yeast” approach. I had to grind in 2 batches, when the 2nd one became too watery I added rice powder to correct it. Very soft in the center and crisp on the outsides.
Thanks !
welcome george. if the batter becomes thin then adding rice flour is a often used method. thanks for sharing your experience.
I really love appam..it was introduced by an Indian friend…I was wondering at first on what are the Indian food would tastes. .I was amazed when I tried appam with dal curry and something fish curry..thank u…for posting this recipe. I will try it at home too…
welcoem girlie. glad to know this.
Oh, my, goodness. I visited Chennai a couple years ago and was completely ADDICTED to this place that made these and served them with coconut milk. I came home to Seattle to find not a single Indian restaurant that makes these or knows what they are. Thank you so much for posting this!!! I CANNOT wait to try making these!!!
thanks nicole. appams are not difficult to make. you can surely try them making at home.