One year in college, I lived over an Ethiopian restaurant that was next door to an Indian restaurant. That meant my room almost always held a pleasant scent of curry but there were some Sunday mornings where all I wanted was maple syrup and cinnamon. Surprisingly, the thought of curry scented carrots and rice flour pancakes from August’s Daring Cook’s Challenge for breakfast stuck me as an excellent idea last night. Mary, from Mary Mary Culinary, proposed the South Indian mainstay and provided a number of interesting recipes.
Due to my lack of a blender, I used rice flour rather than soaking and grinding rice. (A quick wander through Google search results revealed that using rice flour was sort of cheating but still acceptable. Recipe perusal confirmed the process was basically the same.) My previous experiences with trying to use a food processor to grind grains into smooth batters has not been worthy of sharing the results, so I went the easy route. The accompanying curry is very basic: a spoon of coconut oil, half a minced shallot, pinches of mustard seeds, turmeric, cumin, chili, a sliced carrot, chopped cauliflower, and a few spoonfuls of coconut milk with a splash of rice vinegar. Quite delicious, but unmeasured.
Appam
220 g white rice flour
80 g brown rice flour
1 1/2 t yeast
2 t sugar
240 g water
240 g coconut milk
Dash salt
Dissolve yeast in the water with the sugar. Add the flours, salt, and coconut milk. Stir until well mixed. The batter should be quite thick. Cover, and allow to ferment overnight or for 8 hours. I prefer to allow it around 2 hours at room temperature (or a slightly barely heated oven in the winter), and then refrigerate due to the coconut milk. Bring to room temperature. Thin the batter to slightly thicker than a crepe batter (remember, it’s easier to add water later than to take it away!). It took about 1 1/2 c water for me, but this will vary, depending on the moisture content of your flour.
Heat your pan over medium heat. Wipe a few drops of oil over it using a paper towel. Stir the batter and pour in 1/4 to 1/3 c of the batter. Quickly swirl the pan so the batter spreads out into a larger circle with thin edges. Cook for about 90 seconds, or until the edges start to curl up (see photo). Flip, and cook for another 90 seconds.
Serve immediately, or cool on racks and reheat within 24 hours. Rumor has it that the batter can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, if you have more than you’ll eat. I can say with certainty that they are good with butter and maple syrup, and I’ll try stuffing them with apples and cinnamon the next time.
Linked to: Seasonal Sundays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Seasonal Sundays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays
Great job on the challenge! My favourite restaurant makes appams out of rice flour, so that is a perfectly acceptable version! I can’t believe I haven’t tried them with maple syrup yet. Must go do that…
Yes, the maple syrup was delicious. Thanks for bringing them to my attention! They’ll definitely become a regular in my rotations.
Looks like the rice flour worked really well, I thought about using it too, as I have a lot in my pantry, but was not sure it would turn out well. You did a great job!
Glad you enjoyed! Have fun experimenting with them.
Great job on this challenge
and your idea to stuff them with apples is pure genious..
can’t wait to try that
Wow – I’d never have though of trying them with a sweet topping – what an good idea!
Ah, I should have tried rice flour. I even have some in the cupboard! My mixer isn’t great, so this would be a fantastic alternative. Thanks for the idea!
Yours look fantastic & the curry looks/sounds gorgeous. I’m loving the sound of the apple/cinnamon and maple syrup too. I have to try them out.
Apple cinnamon appam sounds like a real treat – please let us know when you make them! Your curry sounds delicious… Thanks for sharing the fun with us!
This is a nice swing of our original recipe. Love it, very creative.
You’re one creative cook!
Thanks for being a part of Seasonal Sundays.
- The Tablescaper