Palappam

Slightly sweet, fluffy in the middle with a crunchy border, these pancakes are served for breakfast in Kerala.

Ingredients
¼ kg fine rice flour or Appam powder
3 dsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
¼ cup grainy rice powder (or rava powder)
2 cups coconut milk from 1 scraped coconut

Preparation
In a pan, add two cups of water. Add the grainy rice powder and sugar to it
Simmer and keep stirring until the mix thickens up
Take off the flame, add the yeast powder and sprinkle a little water over the mixture
Let it stay for five minutes and then mix it well
Pour the mixture over the fine rice flour
Blend well with your hands, adding a little more water if needed
Make a thick dough and rest it for 6 hours
After 6 hours, take it out. Add salt and blend well
Pour in the coconut milk a little at a time, and mix until no lumps are left
Make a smooth runny dough and rest it for half an hour
In an appam pan, smear a little oil
Drop a ladleful of the dough at the centre and swivel the pan
Put the lid on it and let it cook

Open the lid to find soft and fluffy palappam  

Notes
To make appams you need an appam vessel. Too much sugar will cause the appams to stick to the vessel. If you are using a non-stick appam vessel you can make them without greasing the vessel.