Appam batter (no soaked rice nor grated coconut)

Rice flour- 2 cups (not the roasted one)

Rava- 1 tbsp (not the roasted one)

Coconut milk powder- 3 tbsp

Cooked rice- 1/2 cup (any leftover rice even basmati is fine. I prefer matta rice though)

Instant yeast/ active dry yeast- 1 1/4tsp

Salt- to taste

Sugar- to taste

Mix all the first five ingredients together in a blender using lukewarm water. 

Add a little at a time and blend well till you get a smooth batter. I used just under 1 1/2 cups of water.

Transfer to a large bowl, cover and keep to rise in a warm place, for about 4 to 5 hours or till the batter has almost doubled in quantity. It would be light and airy and would bubble up at this point.

Stir in the required amount of salt and sugar (i may have added around 1 1/2tsp salt and around 3 tsp sugar) and warm water to make it the consistency you prefer. (I added around 1/4 cup water and this was correct consistency for kal appam. For palappam you will need to thin it out further in order to spread around the vessel.

Add a little at a time cos you dont want to end up with a really loose batter. I mostly try one appam and adjust the water consistency accordingly.

To make appams, heat a tawa on medium heat (I have a flat ceramic hob so i cant use the traditional appam chatti due to its curved base).

Pour a ladle full of batter and wait for the bubble to slowly start showing.

Cover with a lid and cook for about a minute or so, till there is no raw batter visible.

Serve warm with curry of choice.

Notes: You can store this batter in the fridge for about 4 to 5 days and use as required.

You can also make the normal palappam as well with this recipe.

Since i live in a cold country, i sometimes adapt to methods to make the batter rise. I usually dont have any problem with this batter as it seems to rise after 4 hours without any prompting. But i do keep in a warm oven or an airing cupboard for the process to be quicker. Otherwise its mostly kept covered in a room which has the heater running or on a window ledge with sun directly on it.
I've mentioned not to use roasted rice flour and rava, but truth be told, i once did use roasted one and it came out fine. Dont take my word for it, just use the un roasted one :)