Monday, January 11, 2010

Vellayappam / Paalappam

Vellayappam is a specialty of South India. It is pancakes made from fermented rice flour and is one of the main breakfast dishes of the region. The bowl-shape of these appams with the thick-soft center and crisp lace-like sides makes it a feast to the eye; not to mention about the taste buds. The best combination for appam is Stew - be it Mutton, Chicken or Vegetable.


Uncooked Rice      - 2 cup
Cooked Rice          - 1/2 cup
Coconut                - 1/2 cup
Yeast                    - 2 tsp
Luke Warm Water - 1/4 cup
Water                   - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar                    - 3 1/2 tbsp
Salt                       - 1/4 tsp
Oil                         - as needed

1. Soak the rice in water for a minimum of 4 hours. I used Sona Masoori rice. Any raw rice (Pachari) can be used)
2. Once soaked, grind the rice into a very fine paste using 1/2 cup of water. Transfer this to a bowl.
3. Grind the Cooked rice with 1/4 cup of water into a fine paste and transfer along with the rice batter.
4. Grind the coconut with 1/4 cup of water coarsely and add to the bowl.
5. In the luke warm water add yeast and let it dissolve well.
6. Add this yeast, remaining water, salt and sugar to the batter and mix well.
7. Keep the batter in the oven with the lights turned on. This is for places with cold climate; otherwise you could leave it outside.

The batter would be ready, if kept in an oven, in 1 hour. It would ferment and rise. Now adjust the sugar and salt if needed. You need to use the Appa-Chatti to make appam and follow the below steps.


1. Heat the appa-chatti and smear a little oil.
2. Pour a spoonful of batter and swirl the pan - this leaves the center thick and the sides thinner.
3. Now close the pan and leave it to cook for a minute or two.



Take off the appam from the pan when cooked and serve with stew. This measurement would make around 20 appams.

Note:- 1 cup = 250ml

15 comments:

  1. one of my fav dishes in breafkast...love to have it anytime...very delicious and looks tempting

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  2. Wow my hub's all time fav breakfast item...Looks perfect nd yummy...

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  3. ohh i love vellyappam...especially the combo vellayappam nn egg masala....nice dish fathima..

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  4. Excellent!!! I love learning about this as I have a family member who cannot eat wheat. This would be a perfect recipe and much enjoyed by her. Thank you soooo much for posting this!

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  5. Interesting recipe.I tried this at a south Indian friends place once with grated coconut and sugar it was delicious.

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  6. vellyappam my all time fav..Looks perfect and very tempting!!
    First time here..u have cute space...see u often..:)

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  7. WOW..APPAM LOOKS SOFT...WILL BE NICE TO HAVE WITH EGG CURRY..:)

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  8. Thank you all for taking the time to visit my site and leaving your comments

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  9. This is so perfect...love the chinjati as well...well made...you have a wonderful blog!

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  10. Can I make this batter ahead of time(previous night) and make it in the next night?

    In that case do I have to store the batter in fridge after the 1 hr fermentation in oven?

    Need answer ASAP.

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  11. Yes, you could make it later. In that case just keep the batter in the fridge after the fermentation. Also take the batter and keep in outside atleast 30 minutes prior to making the appams the next day.

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  12. i think we can grind all together also(rice, boiled rice, sugar, coconut and yeast

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  13. Hi, can this be made with Basmati Rice?

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  14. Hi, can we make this with Basmati Rice - since that is also considered as raw rice?

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    Replies
    1. Vijayashree, You can definitely make this with Basmati Rice.

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