Aapam

This is a lacey crepe made out of fermented rice batter which is  very popular in Kerala and Tamilnadu. In Kerala they usually serve it with some kind of curry. In Tamil nadu it is  always eaten with thengapaal i.e.sweet coconut milk flavoured with a bit of cardamom powder. But I think the best combination is either vegetable stew or mutton stew and coconut milk; nothing can beat this taste.


Ingredients:

2 cups basmati or long grain rice

a fistful of cooked rice

1 cup water or coconut water

2 tsp urad dal

1/2 cup coconut milk

a pinch  baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Method:

Wash and soak the rice and urad dal for an hour and grind it along with a cup of coconut water and  cooked rice to a smooth batter. Add coconut milk, baking soda, salt, sugar and mix it well using your hands.This will help the batter to ferment faster. Leave the batter at room temperature for  atleast 10 hours.

(Tips:To make it ferment faster, add 2 tbsp of nicely fermented dosa or idli batter to this and leave it near the heating vent. This way the batter will be ready in 3 hours.)

When you are ready to make aapams, add a pinch of baking soda again to the batter; it should be of pouring consistencey (little bit thicker than butter milk).

Heat a small nonstick frying pan and add a ladle full of batter, swirl it all around to coat the edges and the remaining batter will settle at the bottom of the pan. Close it with a lid and wait for 2 or 3 minutes.The stove should be on medium high heat in order to get that lacey browned edges.Open the lid and run a spatula around the edges and lift the appam, the center should be fluffy and soft and the edges should be crispy and brown.(You need to add a pinch of soda after every 3 or  4 appams, to get the center soft).The best combination to eat this with is stew (vegetable or meat) and sweet coconut milk.