Easy Hoppers with Store-Bought Rice Flour! Are you looking for an easy way to make hoppers (appa, appam)? Discover how to make hoppers with this easy recipe with store-bought rice flour. If you’re new to making hoppers, make a few hoppers to just practice. Yes I know, It’s a bit tricky at first to make perfect bowl-shaped hoppers, but you can master the art within a few tries.
WHAT ARE HOPPERS?
Hoppers (English), Appa (Sinhalese), Appam (Tamil)
In Sri Lanka, hoppers are locally known as appa (pronounced “arp-peh”) in Sinhalese which probably derives from the Tamil word appam (pronounced “arp-pem”). It is also known as appam in some parts of South India like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Hoppers are bowl-shaped pancakes with crispy edges and soft spongy centers, made with a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk. The hopper batter is cooked in small mini wok-like hopper pans and hoppers get their bowl shape from the small pans in which they are cooked.
A hopper pan, also called Appa Thachchiya (Sinhalese) or Appam Chatti (Tamil), is a small, slope-sided nonstick pan with a curved bottom. It comes with a tight-fitting lid, which is key for making hoppers because they rely on steam to set.
Methods of Making the Batter
You can make the batter with homemade ground rice powder or with store-bought rice flour. Ground rice powder is made by grinding soaked raw rice in a powerful grinder and is slightly coarser than store-bought fine rice flour.
However, in my case, instead of using ground rice powder or store-bought rice flour, I usually make hoppers by grinding soaked rice directly into a batter with water.
You can make the best crispy hoppers with ground rice powder or with ground rice batter because these batters are slightly coarser and have a nice grainy texture when compared to the batter made with store-bought rice flour. However, you will need a powerful grinder to grind the soaked rice into a powder or a batter.
How to Make Perfect Hoppers
Here is the detailed recipe with useful tips & video for making hoppers by grinding soaked raw rice into a batter using a powerful grinder. How to Make Perfect Sri Lankan Appa (Hoppers/Appam)
egg hoppers recipe
Hoppers with an egg cooked in the middle. Here is the recipe for Egg Hoppers (Biththara Appa)
Hoppers Made with store-bought rice flour
Well, if you don’t have a powerful grinder, or if you don’t want to take the trouble to soak and grind rice, you can make the batter the easy way with store-bought rice flour. In this recipe, I used Thai white rice flour and make sure to buy long-grain white rice flour, not glutinous rice flour (Japanese rice flour).
You will need a Hopper pan
As I mentioned before, hoppers are cooked in a small wok-like pan known as Hopper Pan. The hopper pan ensures the batter collects in the center of the pan after tilting it to lace the sides creating a fluffy soft center with crispy lacy edges.
Hopper Pans are available in online stores like Amazon. If you use a non-stick pan, do not grease it with oil as it will prevent the batter from sticking to the pan. It is ok to grease lightly with a bit of oil but make sure to wipe off well before pouring the batter. And keep the pan solely for making hoppers.
Ingredients
Rice flour: Use long-grain white rice flour. Do not use glutinous rice flour as it is sticky. I usually use Thai white rice flour.
Check out the detailed recipe with step-by-step cooking instructions on How to Make Rice Flour at Home
Water: I use water to make the batter and then after fermentation thin the batter with thick coconut milk. You can also use thin coconut milk instead of water.
Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast: These two types of yeasts can be used interchangeably in recipes. If you use instant yeast, just mix it in with the rice flour. If you use active dry yeast, follow the directions on the yeast packet, as you might need to activate it by dissolving it in water before using it.
Coconut milk: Coconut milk gives hoppers an amazing milky taste, nice flavor, and crispiness. You can use fresh coconut milk or canned coconut milk. You can also use coconut milk powder after dissolving it in water.
Sugar: Sugar helps to get golden laced hoppers giving a bit of sweetness and it helps also in the fermentation process.
Baking Soda; Baking soda can help create crispy hoppers, improve browning, and lighten the texture.
Salt: Salt is used as a seasoning to enhance the taste of hoppers.
Useful tips for making the best hoppers
Batter
The first thing is to get the batter right. If your batter is not prepared the right way, you will find difficulties in making nice crispy hoppers in the end.
Your batter should be pourable but creamy. After fermentation, thin the batter with thick coconut milk and adjust the thickness. If your batter is watery, the batter will get scattered in the pan. If it is too thick, it will not spread thinly as you want.
You can keep the batter in the fridge for a few days and make sure to bring it to room temperature before you make hoppers.
Need a good fermentation
If the batter is not fully fermented, you may not be able to handle your batter as you want. It will become fragile and it will not stick to the pan and keep its shape when cooking. So, make sure to ferment your batter until it is nicely frothy, and smells fermented.
Fermentation is a tricky process and depends on the environment and the amount of yeast. Warm temperatures between 25 to 30 C are ideal for fermentation and the time needed for good fermentation will be different between 6 to 8 hours (just a rough guide), so make sure to check the batter with your own eyes.
At a higher temperature, or if we allow the batter to ferment for a longer time, the batter would turn sour. So you may need to move it to the refrigerator before it turns too sour.
Cooking
Your Hopper Pan should be hot but not too hot; Make sure that the pan is hot before you add the batter. If the pan is not hot enough, the batter will not stick to the pan. On the other hand, if your pan is too hot, the batter also does not stick to the pan.
As soon as you ladle the batter into the hopper pan, tilt it and swirl the batter around so it coats the whole pan. Cover the pan with a lid after you spread the batter. When you put the lid on, it helps in forming the hot steam inside as it cooks to obtain a spongy texture in the middle.
More Recipes to Try
EASY Sri Lankan Hot Chili Condiment (Lunu Miris); Lunu Miris (ලුණු මිරිස්), also known as Katta Sambol (කට්ට සම්බෝල), is a classic and authentic Sri Lankan hot chili condiment that’s a widely used staple in Sri Lankan cuisine.
What to Serve With Hoppers
Serve the hoppers for an authentic Sri Lankan breakfast or dinner with chicken/meat/fish/lentil curries and/or with hot chili condiments like lunu miris or pol sambol. I love eating them with sugar or/and banana, sprinkle some sugar on the center and roll it, or with banana, just roll a banana with or without sugar. OR try them in your way with whatever filling or topping you like. Let’s say…. honey, jam, chocolate, or even with cheese…
String Hoppers Recipe to Try
Discover how to make Indiappa (String Hoppers) with this step-by-step picture recipe with useful info + tips. Indiappa (String Hoppers) is a very popular Sri Lankan breakfast dish that everyone loves, typically served with curries and pol sambol (spicy coconut condiment).
Easy Hoppers with Store-Bought Rice Flour (Step-by-Step Recipe)
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Resting Time 8 to 10 hrs
Servings 6
Ingredients
150 g rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
180 ml water or thin coconut milk (adjust as needed)
100 ml thick coconut milk (adjust as needed)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon warm water
Instructions
Place the rice flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix well.
Add water a little at a time and mix well until you have a smooth batter without any lumps.
Leave the batter to sit in a warm place (if you live in a cold climate) for 4 to 6 hours. The time needed for fermentation is different according to the room temperature; the key is to use your intuition.
After fermentation, the batter should be thick and smell fermented. Gently stir the batter. (An hour before you intend to cook and serve the hoppers)
Thin the batter adding coconut milk a little at a time. Dissolve the baking soda in a tablespoon of warm water. Add to the batter and mix well.
Cover and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes to one hour. After resting time, the batter is full of tiny air bubbles.
Gently mix the batter. Season with salt to taste.
Heat the hopper pan over medium-high heat until it becomes hot. Pour a ladleful of the batter into the center of the pan. You will hear the sizzling sound when the batter hits the pan if it’s hot enough.
Hold both handles of the pan then rotate the pan to spread the batter evenly and thinly. Swirl only once (or twice) in the same direction.
A thin layer of batter should stick to the sides, with a thicker layer in the center.
Cover and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat until the edges of the pancake are starting to brown, and the center is no longer runny.
Run around the edges with a palette knife and ease it onto a plate. Best served hot.
Easy Hoppers with Store-Bought Rice Flour (Printable Recipe)
Easy Hoppers with Store-Bought Rice Flour
Ingredients
- 150 g rice flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 180 ml water or thin coconut milk (adjust as needed)
- 100 ml thick coconut milk (adjust as needed)
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon warm water
Instructions
- Place the rice flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix well.
- Add water a little at a time and mix well until you have a smooth batter without any lumps.
- Leave the batter to sit in a warm place for 4 to 6 hours. The time needed for fermentation can be different according to the room temperature; the key is to use your intuition.
- Gently stir the batter. (An hour before you intend to cook and serve the hoppers)
- Thin the batter adding coconut milk a little at a time as needed.
- Dissolve the baking soda in a tablespoon of warm water. Add and mix well. Let the batter rest for about 1 hour.
- Heat the Appa pan over medium-high heat until it becomes hot.
- Pour a ladleful of the batter into the center of the pan and tilt the pan to spread the batter thinly. A thin layer of batter should stick to the sides, with a thicker layer in the center.
- Cover and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat until the edges of the pancake are starting to brown, and the center is no longer runny.
- Run around the edges with a palette knife and ease it onto a plate.
- Best served hot.
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