Art of Paalappam (Milk Pancake?)

To me, making a perfect paalappam always was/is an art. The cook pours a ladle full of batter and then rotates the pan and makes a mini flying saucer, tiny aliens of the food world can travel on. The speed, with which this is done, looks like a mini hand acrobat.

However, attempts after attempts never gave me that perfect lazy saucer appam. I tried changing pans, changing flour; changing yeast and what not. Even wore a lucky charm.

Then, I would call up a friend to crib about how my appam flopped, and before beginning the cribbing session would casually ask, “How are you? What are you doing?”. She would answer, “Oh, I am eating paalappam and this time it came better than all times!” Clunk! I hate her.

But Ah! Now it is my turn! Any one with lousy paalappam can call me up and I can talk forever about my lacy paalappams. I have learned the art and now those tiny little aliens can travel safely!

Recipe for Paalappam made with yeast

1½ cups of Raw Rice soaked for 8 hours. Grind together soaked rice, 1/2 cup grated coconut to a smooth thick batter with minimal water.Cook ¼ cup raw rice powder with 1 cup water to a thick paste.pic of rice powder paste

In 5 tsp warm water (not hot, just warm), add 1 tsp sugar, mix and then add ¼ tsp (heaped) yeast and mix well and keep aside undisturbed in a warm place until it rises. (Usually for 10 minutes). If the yeast doesn’t rise, then there is no point in continuing. If the yeast rises, thick froth will appear on the surface of the sugar dissolved warm water.

Mix ground raw rice, thick paste (cooled down to normal temperature), yeast mixture and mix thoroughly. The batter should be thick-thick. Add 2 tsp of sugar also and mix again and keep aside.a pic of the batter

Remember to keep the batter in a vessel 6 times the original volume. Yeast is very naughty; it will spill your mixture otherwise.

Okay, after say 8 or 10 hours, it is time for some acrobatics. The batter will be double in volume.

You need an appam pan. You get nonstick pans. I have an iron one which makes perfect saucer shapes.Now, below is a pic of my cute sprayer. I got it from Bed Bath and Beyond.Use gingelly oil which is good for iron pans. I fill this sprayer and use it on my dosa and appam pans.
Very Very handy! (A good buy for India trip). Back home, we use small pieces of coconut husk dipped in oil to rub on the appam pan surface.

For iron pans, spray the pan with gingelly oil the previous night and keep, if you are going to make appam next day morning. This will prevent it from any sticky issues.

Now when you are ready to make appams, heat the pan, spray it with gingelly oil, the surface should completely be sprayed. Make sure your ladle will fit ¼ cup of the batter for pouring.

The batter you prepared might be thick. Add milk (plain milk) to make the batter for thinner consistency, like the dosa batter. Add salt.The batter should flow easily from the ladle and you should be able to rotate the pan with the batter.

Heat the appam pan, spray the appam pan with oil, when the oil starts to smoke, make the flame to medium, hold one end of the pan’s ear, and pour a ladle full of batter in to the middle of the pan.a pic of batter spread completely inside the pan, immediately after pouring

Immediately hold the other end of the pan’s ear and rotate and make the batter spread completely on the inner surface of the pan. This is done in rotating the pan clockwise or anti-clockwise in a 45 degree angle.a pic of appam covered for cooking
The trick is the middle portion of the appam will be thicker and the sides will be thinner, thus forming the saucer shape.a pic of the saucer shape appam

Now cover and cook, until you see the sides the appam detach from the pan or turns crispy. Sugar makes the appam brown on the sides. But don't add, more sugar since it might make the appam stick to the pan. Keep a kitchen cloth near so that you can hold the ears of the pan quickly after pouring the batter. Make sure you hold one ear of the pan before pouring the batter so that you wont lose time.Appam is ready. Serve it with any type of gravy you like. I served it with egg curry. Egg curry is a favorite combination for paalappam.

In the mornings, you know your train has reached some station in Kerala, when you hear the vendors calling out “appam..muttee.. appam…muttee” meaning “appam…egg curry”.

Oh! I miss those train journeys. Holding a 10 rupee note and waving at them to buy the “appam muttee” packed in sautéed banana leaves and some old malayalam newspaper.