Appam with Vegitable Stew

Appam is a famous dish from Kerala. Its a type of South Indian pancake made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk.

Ingredients

• Raw rice- 2 cups
• Cooked rice- 2 cups
• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Yeast- 1/2 teaspoon
• Sugar- 1 teaspoon
• Salt- 1/4 teaspoon
• Lukewarm water- 1 cup
• Milk or coconut milk as required

Method

Wash and soak the raw rice in water for 3-4 hours till it becomes soft enough to grind. Take yeast and sugar in a bowl and pour the lukewarm water into it and keep aside. Make sure the water is not too hot or else, the yeast will die. To check, pour a little water on the inside of your wrist. If it is bearable, then the temperature is fine. It takes about 10 minutes for the yeast to act.

Transfer the rice into a grinder. Add the grated coconut, yeast and the required amount of water to get a medium thick finely ground batter. Transfer to a utensil. Cover with lid and keep in a warm place to rise. When the batter has risen, add a tablespoonful or more of sugar and mix well. If the batter is too thick, add some coconut milk or milk to dilute it a bit.

Heat Appachatti/Pan/Kadai/Wok on medium flame. Pour a ladle full of batter and swirl the pan so that the batter spreads and forms a circle. Let the remaining batter come to the centre. Cover and cook till the sides of the appam becomes slightly brown and the centre cook. Serve with Vegetable stew / Chicken Stew / Egg roast.

Vegetable Stew

A simple vegetable stew cooked with the goodness and flavour of coconut milk.

Ingredients

• Cardamom 3nos
• Cloves 3 nos
• Cinnamon stick 1” piece
• Ginger (finely chopped) 1/2 tsp
• Garlic (finely chopped) 1/2 tsp
• Green chillies(slit) 3 nos
• Onion Medium (sliced) 2 nos
• Curry Leaves 2 sprigs
• Carrot Medium (cubed) 1
• French Beans (cut into 1” pieces) 5-6nos
• Green Peas frozen or fresh(if fresh cook separately in cooker and add) 1/2 cup
• Potato Medium (cubed) 2nos
• Turmeric Powder pinch
• Coriander Powder 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala 1/4 tsp
• Black Pepper Powder 1/4 tsp
• Thin coconut milk 1/2 cup
• Thick coconut milk 3/4 cup
• Oil
• Ghee 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in a sauce pan, add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon saute until fragrant.

Add ginger ,garlic,green chillies, onion and curry leaves. saute until onion turns translucent.

Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, half of garam masala and half of black peeper powder saute for a minute then add carrot,beans,potato and green peas.

Add thin coconut milk. Add salt to taste and mix well. cover and cook until done.

Remove the lid, add thick coconut milk and remainning garam masala and black pepper powder and cook for few more minutes. Heat ghee in a pan, add curry leaves and saute for few seconds. Add this to the vegetable stew and stir gently.

Serve hot with Appam / Idiyappam / Roti.