The Perfect Idiyappam

Recipe Courtesy: Mrs Baby Joseph Vadakkekalam

Idiyappams or string hoppers is one of the simplest and healthy breakfast recipes. It calls for three simple ingredients and there is no need for any fermentation or extra preparation. Yet I’ve managed to serve uncooked or extremely dried up ones by applying various permutations and combinations.

Till Amma gave me her sister’s recipe, Idiyappams were always a hit or miss at our home. Baby Aunty’s recipe simplifies the process and promises you soft, fluffy and easy to make Idiyappams every single time!

This recipe would give you exactly 32 idiyappams.

Ingredients

Rice Flour – 1 cup*

Thin Coconut Milk (3rd extract) – 2 cups*

Ghee- 1 tsp

Salt to Taste

Grated coconut (optional) –

Preparation

• If you do not have access to thin coconut milk, you could prepare the same with 1.5 tbsps coconut milk powder diluted in 2 cups of lukewarm water.
• For vegan options, the ghee can be replaced with vegetable oil

Method

Take a deep non stick kadai or dish or wok .

1. Add the rice flour, thin coconut milk , ghee and salt to taste.

Mix it with a spatula to get a lump free smooth mixture. It would have the consistency of milk.

Now place it over a medium flame and keep stirring.

1. Within 4-5 minutes, the watery mixture would start to thicken and turn into a soft dough. There is no need for any kneading.

Now take the kadai off the flame.

In a stock pot or idli steaming pan boil water to a 2 inch height.

Keep a trivet in the centre .

Take one portion of the soft dough and fill the idiyappam press.

Idli moulds , can be used to make the idiyappams.

If you are not using non-stick idli moulds, please grease the moulds slightly.

The next stage is to add the grated coconut, if you prefer it.

Now that the mould is set and prepared, using the idiyappam press you can extract it out to a size of your preference.

1. I use the circular disc with the tiniest holes to get fine and thin noodles for my idiyappam.

Once you have the idiyappam extracted and stacked, place it onto the trivet in the stock pot.

1. Remember to see if the water is at a boiling state, before you place the moulds.

Cover and let it cook on a medium flame for 7 minutes.

After that you can take the moulds out of the pot and let it rest for a minute.

1. Perfectly cooked, soft and fluffy idiyappams are ready to serve.

1. These are best served with coconut milk based curries like

Egg Stew

.

One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.

Robert A. Heinlein