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Fermentation Atlas

Cereals and bread from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka

Appam / hoppers (toddy-leavened rice pancake)അപ്പം

A batter of rice, coconut milk, a little sugar and salt is left for a few hours to ferment, traditionally with palm toddy and today often with yeast. It is swirled in a small, deep pan and covered, so it cooks into a bowl-shaped pancake with crisp, lacy edges and a soft, spongy centre. Made in 4 steps over 3 h – 5 h. The longest step, ferment for a few hours, takes 3–5 h (Manickavasagan A 2014) and runs at 28–30 °C (Manickavasagan A 2014). Salt is 2 % (Manickavasagan A 2014). Lactobacillus, rising from 2.30 to 5.36 log cfu/g in 5 h and Yeasts and moulds do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–5 hReported[manickavasagan2014]Ferment for a few hours
Temperature28–30 °CMeasured[manickavasagan2014]Ferment for a few hours
Salt2 %Measured[manickavasagan2014]Mix in coconut milk, sugar, salt and toddy or yeast
AciditypH 7 → 5.9Measured[manickavasagan2014]Ferment for a few hours
Fully documentedCereals and bread3 h – 5 hMore cereals and breadMore from IndiaMore from Sri Lanka

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe control batter of a laboratory study (100 g rice flour); home recipes use soaked, ground rice and fresh coconut milk.
100 gRice flour[manickavasagan2014]
50 gCoconut milk powder · Fresh coconut milk is the usual home ingredient[manickavasagan2014]
15 gWhite sugar · Food for the yeast; it also helps the crust brown[manickavasagan2014]
2 gSalt[manickavasagan2014]
Water · To a smooth, pourable batter[manickavasagan2014]
Palm toddy or yeast (traditional starters; yoghurt is also used)[manickavasagan2014][wp-appam]
Starterother: palm toddy (traditional) or baker's yeast

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 h – 5 h

Start
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What changes: Soaked rice is ground and part of it is cooked into a thick paste

Step 1 of 4
Grind the rice and cook part into a thick paste
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus
Yeasts
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
L. mesenteroides
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: batter base.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
smooth batter base; the cooked paste (kurukku) thickens it
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Appam is a sweet, coconut rice batter fermented for only a few hours with yeast or toddy, so it stays mild. Dosa and idli batters use black gram and ferment overnight with lactic bacteria.

Related ferments

Variants

  • KallappamLeavened with toddy specifically (kallu = toddy); an Easter dish.
  • Egg hopper (Sri Lanka)An egg cracked into the centre.
  • Paal appa / milk hopperA centre of thick coconut milk.
  • VattayappamA steamed sweet fermented rice cake, made with toddy or yeast.
  • Kue apem / apam (Indonesia, Malaysia)A steamed rice cake leavened with tape, palm wine or yeast, sweetened with palm sugar.
  • Idiyappam / string hoppersNot fermented; steamed rice-flour noodles.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature (Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai). Eighteenth-century accounts describe the agape cakes of the Saint Thomas Christians, and Cochin Jews used fresh toddy.

  1. [manickavasagan2014] Manickavasagan A., Kumar C.S., Sivakumar N., Prathibha R. 2014, Effect of dates on fermentation of appam batter, J Pure Appl Microbiol 8 (Spl. Edn. 1):305–311paper
  2. [tamang2016] Tamang, Watanabe, Holzapfel, "Review: Diversity of Microorganisms in Global Fermented Foods and Beverages", Front. Microbiol. 7:377, 2016 (toddy microbes)paper
  3. [wp-appam] Wikipedia, Appam (outline, variants and history; cites Achaya 1997, 2003; Paolino 1800)wiki