IDIYAPPAM RECIPE ~ Kerala Style Instant Idiyappam ~ String hoppers recipe

IDIYAPPAM RECIPE / STRING HOPPERS RECIPE / KERALA STYLE IDIYAPPAM RECIPE / BREAKFAST RECIPES / DINNER RECIPES / NOOL PUTTU RECIPE / NOOL APPAM RECIPE / COCONUT IDIYAPPAM  / IDIYAPPAM THENGAI PAAL RECIPE / SEVAI RECIPES / SRI LANKAN RECIPES / TAMIL NADU RECIPES / ROASTED RICE FLOUR RECIPES / RICE FLOUR RECIPES / SOUTH INDIAN BREAKFAST RECIPES 

Idiyappam  is a popular breakfast recipe from Tamil Nadu and Kerala in Southern India. It is also very famous in Sri lanka as string hoppers. They are either rice flour or wheat flour based dish served as main course for either breakfast or dinner with simple stew or coconut mixed with sugar & ghee. This recipe is from my mother in law who makes beautiful, soft idiyappams with home ground rice flour but I’ve shared a simple version using store bought idiyappam flour. You may use regular rice flour, idiyappam flour or kozhukattai flour for this recipe but then the quantity of water may change and texture may change depending on the flour used. Please refer notes for complete details and measures. Traditional idiyappam maker works best for long thin strings(shown below), if you don’t have one then proceed with regular murukku press with slightly bigger holes which will yield thick strings. It is little time consuming and needs patience and good muscle to press the dough through the idiyappam achu, get prepared!

If using store bought raw rice flour – Idiyappams are normally prepared with roasted rice flour / homemade rice flour / pre-made Idiyappam flour  or Kozhukattai flour. If you don’t have these then you have to roast the regular raw rice flour. Dry roast the rice flour in a  kadai  for 2-3 minutes and let cool completely and then proceed with the recipe. Downside of using raw rice flour – It may drink up extra water while kneading, texture of the idiyappam may be little dry, rough & hard. Sometimes needs extra pressure while pressing and strings may tend to break.

We are proceeding with store bought Idiyappam flour which is pre-roasted and ready to use, we get instant idiyappams in less than 30 minutes.

In a bowl combine rice flour and salt  and keep it aside . Heat about 1 & 1/2 cup water in a sauce pan with few drops of oil. Let it start to boil, once you see them getting vigorous then switch off the flame. Now slowly add this water to the flour mixture and mix. Do not add all the water at once, keep adding until they mix well. (You will need only about 1 & 1/4 approx for one cup of flour, it may vary with the type of flour you use) Cover and keep it for 2 minutes. Now while they are still warm, using your hand-  start kneading to make a soft dough. (It should be soft but firm, not too soft or hard….  kind of baby butt soft 🙂 )

Now prepare the idiyappam press & plates , apply oil inside the press the apply oil to your hands and also keep some idli / idiyappam plates lightly greased with oil. Take a small portion of the dough and spoon that in the press, close with lid and squeeze over the plates in a circular motion. Arrange the plates in the cooker and steam for about 8-10 minutes over medium high flame. ( If you don’t have idiyappam plate, you can also use regular idly plate ) Once done,  allow it to cool and remove the idiyappams gently from the plate to a serving bowl. Serve hot with stew/ kurma or fresh grated coconut & sugar or coconut milk.

My personal choice is scrambled idiyappams with fresh grated coconut, sugar and ghee! Yummo!