Appam & Chicken Stew

Appam is another variety of rice pancake or dosa. A regular dosa is prepared on a flat pan, whereas appams are prepared in deep round pan also known as 'kadhai' to get that unique bowl shape. After spreading the batter on to the kadhai, some of the batter settles down at the bottom. That  bread like soft base makes it very different from the normal dosa.

Very popular in Kerela and Tamil Nadu served as breakfast or as a light dinner. Any kind of spicy gravy goes well with these slightly sweet appams from coconut milk based curries to any kind chettinad curries.

Serving Size: Makes around 20 appams (depending on the size)

Fermenting time: overnight

Preparation time: 2 minutes for each appam. (30 minutes Approx) 

Ingredients:

For Appam

• 2 cups short grain rice (wash & soaked for 3 hours)
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (soak with rice)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut 
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 2 cups water (or little more) for grinding

Grind the above mentioned ingredients to a smooth batter, consistency should be a little more thin than the normal dosa batter.

Keep the batter covered in a warm place for 8 hours or overnight. Once the batter has fermented and bubbles appear on the surface add the following ingredients:

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Salt to taste

Mix the batter well and the consistency should be a thin flowy batter but not too watery. Set aside for 10 minutes and then start making appams one by one. 

Method:

• Heat a kadhai and slightly grease with cooking oil using a tissue or a small clean cloth. 
• Pour a ladle full of batter into the kadhai and rotate the kadhai so that the batter sticks to the sides of the pan, and rest of the batter settles down.
• Cover and cook on medium heat for 30 seconds and then slowly scrape off the edges of the dosa and remove from pan and serve hot. Appam has to be cooked only on one side so there is no need to flip over.

Chicken Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

• 500 gms of chicken (cut into small pieces)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 2 tbsp of ginger & garlic paste
• 2 or 3 green chilies finely chopped (add more if needed)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 bay leaf & small piece of cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
• Salt
• 5 tbsp of cooking oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan and add bay leaf and cinnamon stick along with chopped onion. Saute till light golden.
2. Add 2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste and chopped green chilies, fry for few seconds and then add tomatoes and cook till soft.
3. Now add all spices - 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder and fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add chicken pieces and cook on high heat for 1 minute and stir well till all the chicken pieces are well coated with spices. Add salt  and 1 cup water and cook covered till chicken pieces are almost 90% done.
5. Add 1 cup coconut milk, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Cook on low flame till chicken is cooked and tender.
6. Finally add chopped coriander and check the salt and other seasoning. If the spice is less then add more green chilies chopped according to your preference.
7. Serve hot with Appam.