Know what “appam” is on your plate

Palappam…  vellayappam… kallappam… Lots of appam… Confused about which is on your plate or how to make it? Here is a guide for you… hope it will be beneficial for you…

Palappam

Jewish people who migrated to India introduced this food item in the country. It is now popular in South India and Sri Lanka. It is made by grinding rice/rice floor with coconut milk. The batter is fermented using yeast. Palappam will have a lace border. It is cooked only at one side by covering it. It is prepared in curved appam pan. Palappam is generally known as “appam”.

Vellayappam

It is very similar to palappam. The main difference is that here we use grated coconut instead of coconut milk. Batter is prepared by grinding grated coconut and rice/rice floor. Unlike palappam, the batter of vellayappam is thicker as of idly. Vellayappam looks like dosa except being thicker. It is cooked at both sides.

Kallappam

As the name suggests, it is prepared by using toddy. Now a days people use yeast for fermentation due to the shortage of good toddy. Even though it is similar to vellayappam, cumin seeds and shallots (“chuvanna ulli” or “cheriya ulli”) are used and for fermentation, toddy.