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–+ servings

Ingredients

Yields: 6 appams

Appam batter

  • 100 g rice
  • 120 ml water
  • 5 g sugar
  • 30 g water
  • 5 g yeast
  • 200 g rice flour
  • 50 g sugar
  • 3 g salt
  • 480 g coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp ghee - or vegetable oil
  • 8 eggs - one for each appam
  • 1 tin of caviar - totally optional but goes well with it!
  • 1 small bunch chives - sliced thinly

Method

  • Wash the rice 3-4 times to rinse off the excess starch. Then, place the rice in a pot with equal parts water, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until fluffy and cooked through. (Alternatively, you could use a rice cooker.) When the rice is done, transfer it to a blender together with the 120ml of water, and blend on high speed for about a minute, until it turns into a smooth, thick paste.
  • In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in the water, then add the yeast to the sweetened water. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it turns bubbly.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the rice flour, sugar, and salt. To this, add in the coconut milk, the yeast, and the blended rice and whisk until a smooth batter forms.
  • Cover the bowl containing the batter with a cloth, and leave it at room temperature to proof until it doubles in size. The timing will vary depending on your climate, but it’ll take at least 2 hours, and up to 8 hours, and I know some people leave it to proof overnight too. (I found the sweet spot to be around 3 hours, but that might be in part because of the hot and humid Malaysian climate.)
  • When the batter has proofed, ready a non-stick appam pan or a wok (I used the latter). Heat the pan over high heat, and oil it well with ghee. (You can use a kitchen towel to rub ghee over the pan.) Pour in a ladle of batter (~120g) into the centre of the pan. Then, lifting the pan, gently swirl the batter around the pan to get the appam to the desired size. Crack an egg into the middle of the appam, then cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 3-4 minutes over low heat. The appam is done when the edges are golden brown and the egg whites are just cooked. Release the appam from the pan by going around the edges using a spatula or a small knife, and transfer it to a plate. Repeat for the rest of the batter.
  • Top the appam with a good amount of caviar (‘good’ is totally subjective here, but for me it’s around a heaped teaspoon of caviar), then sprinkle on some chopped chives, and serve!