Hopper (food)
Appam
|
|
| Alternative names | Hoppers, Ãppa, kallappam, palappam |
|---|---|
| Type | Pancake or griddle cake |
| Course | Breakfast or dinner |
| Main ingredients | Rice batter |
| Variations | Egg hoppers |
 |
|
Appam is a type of pancake made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk. It is a common food in Kerala,Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. It is eaten most frequently for breakfast or dinner.
It is considered as a staple diet and a cultural synonym of the Nasranis (also known as Saint Thomas Christians or Syrian Christians) of Kerala. According to Gil Marks, each of the three separate Indian Jewish communities - Cochin, Mumbai, Calcutta - counts in its culinary repertoire grain dishes called appam.
Vir Sanghvi, an Indian journalist, quotes food historian K. T. Achaya and states that the appam is mentioned in the Tamil Perumpanuru. K. T. Achaya in the last published book of his lifetime states that Appam was well established in ancient Tamil country (comprising most parts of present-day South India), as per references in the Perumpanuru. Appam first emerged in the southern tip of India, as per Gil Marks.
It is called aappam (ஆப்பம்) in Tamil, appam (അപ്പം) in Malayalam, aapa in Tulu, appa (ආප්ප) in Sinhala, chitau pitha (ଚିତାଉ) in Oriya, paddu or gulle eriyappa in Kodava, and arpone (အာပုံမုန့်) in Burmese. Appam is commonly referred to by its anglicized name, hoppers, in Sri Lanka. In Indonesia it is known as kue apem.
Plain Appam or Vella Appam are bowl-shaped thin pancakes made from fermented rice flour. They derive their shape from the small appachatti in which they are cooked. They are fairly neutral in taste and mostly served with some spicy condiment or curry. These hoppers are made from a batter using rice, yeast, salt and a little sugar. After the mixture has stood for a couple of hours, it can be fried in the appachatti with a little oil. In south-central Kerala, it is mostly served with kadala curry, mutton or vegetable stew or egg roast.
...
Wikipedia